A panel of federal judges denied MGM Resorts International’s request to centralize 13 victims’ lawsuits from the October 1, 2017, Route 91 Harvest Festival mass shooting into one lawsuit.
The panel ruled that centralizing the cases would not be convenient for the parties involved in the lawsuit or any witnesses that may be called upon to testify.
MGM’s request to centralize the cases came after it filed lawsuits in nine states against victims of the shooting who had sued the casino giant. MGM, which owns the festival grounds and Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, where the shooting originated from, maintains the controversial move was intended to avoid years of prolonged litigation by combining the lawsuits into one venue.
[Related Content: MGM CEO Issues Vegas Shooting Anniversary Statement]
Portions of the "Order Denying Transfer from the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation" read as follows:
“On the basis of the papers filed and the hearing session held, we conclude that centralization will not serve the convenience of the parties and witnesses or further the just and efficient conduct of this litigation.”
The report also states that MGM emphasized that it had received pre-litigation hold letters from at least 63 attorneys on behalf of 2,462 individuals, and that one attorney claims that 22,000 lawsuits are expected, although 38 negligence actions had only been filed to date and 34 of those were voluntarily dismissed.
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