Families of Lion Air Crash Victims Told to Sign No-Suit Deal in Order to Get Minimum Compensation: NYT

The family members of those killed in last year’s Lion Air plane crash in Indonesia say they were all but given an ultimatum by the airline after the tragedy: Sign an agreement promising not to sue and get 1.3 billion rupiah ($91,600) in compensation for your loved one’s death, according to The New York Times. The agreement the family members were pressured to sign, referred to as a release and discharge, reportedly stipulated that they would not take legal action against Lion Air, its insurers, and Boeing, which manufactured the 737 Max 8 plane that has now come under scrutiny following another fatal crash in Ethiopia. Some of the relatives of the 189 people killed on Lion Air Flight 610 said they were also not allowed to examine the agreement before signing it, nor were their lawyers permitted to read through it. Legal experts now say not only were the agreements likely not valid, but they forced victims’ families to settle for the bare minimum amount of compensation under Indonesian law and stripped them of the right to seek more. Dedi Sukendar, a relative of one of the crash victims, told the Times the family knew the amount of the compensation was “small” but agreed to sign because “we wanted the psychological pressure to stop.”