Jury awards family of Tyre Sampson $310 million in Orlando Freefall death case

Funtime released a statement:

Under Austrian law, the US court verdict is not justified. Our company operates internationally, is recognized in the industry and complies with all requirements, which have also been confirmed by the local inspection authority. We deeply regret the accident in Florida, but see no responsibility in the occurrence of this accident, as we had no influence whatsoever on the operator’s intervention in the ride’s safety technology, which was carried out after the official inspections and without our knowledge.

Source: https://www.eap-magazin.de/...-Case.html

In a vacuum this seems like a perfectly reasonable statement. But to make it after not even showing up to court? That's quite a bold move.

Not sure what Austrian law has to do with a product sold and being used in the US.

I think the second half of that sentence is the important bit. It seems utterly crazy to me that a ride manufacturer can be held responsible for a change made post-installation by a third party – whether that be under US law or otherwise.

robotfactory:

In a vacuum this seems like a perfectly reasonable statement. But to make it after not even showing up to court? That's quite a bold move.

I'm no expert on this stuff, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if the cost of hiring representation would have wiped out any profit they made on supplying the ride in the first place.

I imagine they took the view that any judgment would be unenforceable anyway.