Duck boat owner wants to settle lawsuits while pursuing legal tack to limit liability
Ripley Entertainment, owner of the Ride the Ducks operation in Branson where 17 people died in July when one of its boats sank in Table Rock Lake, has asked victims to consider entering into mediation to settle legal claims.
At the same time, Ripley Entertainment filed a complaint Monday to combine several lawsuits against the company and pursue a defense based on a 19th century federal law. That law limits liability against ship owners in maritime casualties to the value of the sunken vessel.
Attorneys for Ripley Entertainment say mediation, a legal proceeding held in private, could result in compensation to the victims for their losses faster than proceeding through the courts.
Kansas City attorneys Nancy Kenner and Tom Bender would mediate settlement negotiations. Kenner is an experienced mediator with the Kenner, Nygaard, DeMarea law firm in Kansas City. Bender is also a seasoned mediator with the Horn, Aylward & Bandy law firm in Kansas City.
Kansas City Mayor Sly James, who is a lawyer and has worked as a mediator, would act as a consultant to Kenner and Bender.
“Since the tragic accident on July 19th in Branson, Missouri, the primary focus of Ride The Ducks has been to do everything we possibly can to ease the pain of the survivors, their families, and the families of the deceased,” said Ripley Entertainment spokeswoman Suzanne Smagala-Potts in a statement. “We are continuing these efforts in several ways, including actively seeking mediation for those affected.”
Robert Mongeluzzi, an attorney representing several plaintiffs in the duck boat litigation in federal court, said he had received the mediation offer.
“That is something we are considering,” Mongeluzzi said. “Obviously, it is something we need to discuss with our client but no decisions have been made regarding that at all.”
Ripley Entertainment’s mediation offer comes as it has started to file responses to lawsuits against the company.
In a complaint filed in federal court Monday, Ripley Entertainment argued that it properly maintained its duck boats and adequately trained those who captained the vessels. It adds that the loss of the duck boat and those on board was not the result of neglect or fault by the company or its employees.
In its complaint, Ripley Entertainment cited a maritime law from 1851 called the Limitation of Liability Act, which limits a shipowner’s damages in a casualty to the value of the sunken vessel.
The law was devised at a time when the United States sought to bulk up its shipping industry and wanted to protect shipowners in the process.
Courts do not always apply the act in cases of maritime casualties. Mongeluzzi represented the families of two Hungarian tourists who were killed on a Ride the Ducks boat in Philadelphia in 2010. In that case, a tugboat towing a barge collided into the duck boat as it floated with an anchor on the bottom of the Delaware River.
In that case, the Ride the Ducks operation in Philadelphia and the tugboat operator argued they had liability protection from the 1851 law. The plaintiffs in the case ultimately reached a $17 million settlement, an amount far greater than the value of either vessel involved in the incident.
In the Branson incident, attorneys for Ripley Entertainment say the duck boat that sank to the bottom of Table Rock Lake is a total loss. That means if the courts agree that Ripley Entertainment is protected by the Limitations of Liability Act and that the sunken boat has no value, plaintiffs could not recover damages.
Ripley Entertainment said Monday’s filing is common in casualties that happen on water and can streamline the legal process. It added that it is seeking a delay in all proceedings while it tries to mediate claims with those suing the company.
“While this filing may limit the company’s liability, we are filing this request at the same time we are actively pursuing mediation and settlement with those most affected, and have already scheduled, or are in the process of scheduling mediations,” Ripley Entertainment’s spokeswoman said in a statement.
Mongeluzzi took exception to Ripley Entertainment’s filing.
“Ripley’s claim that the lives of the family members they killed with their outrageous and criminal conduct are worthless is yet another insult to these grieving family members from the Ripley’s organization,” Mongeluzzi said in a statement late Monday evening.
He went on: “Ripley’s claims of supporting these families are false. The company sent their family members into the teeth of a deadly storm in death-trap duck boats and killed them.”
Ripley Entertainment has faced a phalanx of lawsuits in both federal and state courts since the July disaster on Table Rock Lake. One of its Ride the Ducks vessels with 31 people on board went out on Table Rock Lake for a sightseeing tour just as the National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the area.
A storm with heavy rain and winds in excess of 70 miles per hour battered the duck boat, subjecting it to winds twice the speed of what the vessel was designed to handle, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. The incident killed 16 passengers and one crew member.
Families of those who died, along with survivors and one man who said he tried to rescue passengers, have claimed that Ripley Entertainment and its related subsidiaries with Ride the Ducks were negligent in sending a tour out on the water when it knew that a storm was approaching.
The lawsuits also claim that duck boats are not safe and that their operators have not adopted safety recommendations made over the years by the National Transportation Safety Board. The Table Rock Lake disaster was the worst involving a duck boat on water since the 1999 sinking of the Miss Majestic on Lake Hamilton, Ark., which killed 13.
The Missouri attorney general has also sued Ripley Entertainment, alleging violations of the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act. There is also a federal criminal investigation into the incident.
This story was originally published October 16, 2018 at 10:09 AM.