Christian Woman Outraged Companies Invoked 1851 Law to Deny Liability in Duck Boat Tragedy

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BRANSON MO NEWS: (Photo: Facebook)Tia Coleman with her late husband and children.Tia Coleman, a Christian woman who lost nine family members this summer in a boating accident in Branson, Missouri, is outraged that two companies facing multiple lawsuits over the accident have invoked an 1851 law used by vessel owners to avoid or limit legal damages.Lawyers for Coleman, who lost her husband and three children in the tragedy that claimed 17 lives, told the Indy Star, that the companies, Branson Duck Vehicles and Ripley Entertainment, cited the 1851 maritime law in a federal court filing in Missouri on Monday.The companies argue in the filing that negligence did not cause the boat to sink. If a court does find negligence, however, their liability, the companies say, is zero because “the Vessel was a total loss and has no current value. No freight was pending on the Vessel.”If a judge accepts this application of the law, claims for damages stemming from the July 19 accident on Table Rock Lake could be consolidated into a single federal court case, according to the Associated Press.Coleman and her legal team told the Indy Star that the move by the companies was “callous and calculated.””Ripley’s legal claim that my husband and children are worthless is incredibly hurtful and insensitive,” Coleman said in a statement. “Anyone who cares about people or has any human decency should boycott Ripley and their attractions.”Ripley spokeswoman Suzanne Smagala-Potts told AP that the filing made Monday is “common in claims related to maritime incidents.” The move, she said, was simply to delay the multiple court cases to give the parties time for mediation.”We have reached out to those most impacted by the accident and offered to mediate their claims now,” Smagala-Potts said in a statement. “Mediation often leads to faster …



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