Irish UN worker Michael Ryan, 39, was among 157 killed in the 2019 Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX crash.
New York: A Chicago jury has awarded $29 million in damages to the family of an Irish-born United Nations employee who was killed in a 2019 Boeing 737 MAX crash, a US court spokesman said on Wednesday.
The civil lawsuit was filed against Boeing by Naoise Connolly Ryan, the widow of Michael “Mick” Ryan, an engineer with the UN World Food Programme who was among 157 people killed when Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed.
Ryan, who was 39, had worked during the Ebola crisis in Liberia and supported Rohingya refugees. A UN memorial page also highlighted his work in Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Ethiopia.
The case is among the final civil lawsuits still pending against Boeing following two fatal 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019 that together killed 346 people.
The vast majority of claims have been settled out of court on undisclosed terms. However, Naoise Ryan’s attorney, Steven Marks, said his client was “committed to seeking accountability and justice from a jury” rather than accepting a direct settlement from Boeing.
Boeing has apologized for the crashes and acknowledged that anti-stall software played a role in both accidents.
Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In May, a Chicago jury awarded $49.5 million in damages to the family of Samya Stumo, a 24-year-old American who was also killed in the Ethiopian Airlines crash.
