And so it begins: Here come the lawsuits in the Las Vegas Strip shooting tragedy
And so it begins. That didn’t take long, did it? I’m referring, of course, to the lawsuit filed by shooting victim Paige Gasper (“Lawsuit filed against MGM,” Thursday Review-Journal). While I certainly feel badly about what she is going through — as I do for all the victims of the Oct. 1 massacre — this is greed, pure and simple. Who does one blame? The victim? The lawyer? The legal system itself? Or all of them?
The questions brought by Ms. Gasper’s lawyer, Michelle Tuegel — such as, how could the hotel not know the shooter had placed a camera to the peephole to the inside of the suite’s door — are easily answered: Members of hotel staff are not permitted to enter a room without permission. If a “Do Not Disturb” sign hung on the outside, or if a knock is responded with, “No, thank you,” then the hotel would have no way of knowing what the guest had done or was planning to do.
No doubt, she’ll expect to benefit from and fight for her “right” to any donations made by people from around the globe. Call me hardhearted, but if Ms. Gasper plans to move forward with this lawsuit — which names not only MGM Resorts International, but Live Nation Entertainment Inc., Mandalay Bay Corp. and Slide Solutions LP, as well as the estate of the shooter — she shouldn’t receive a penny of the funds donated to any of the collective campaigns.
There is no way that any of those companies could have known or even anticipated the actions of the perpetrator of this heinous act. So it is my further opinion that, if Ms. Gasper happens to lose this lawsuit, she and her lawyer should be required to pay any and all costs accumulated by the defendants.
