On 12 November 2025, in a landmark ruling, The Boeing Company was ordered by a federal jury in Chicago to pay over US $28 million to the family of Shikha Garg — a United Nations environmental consultant who perished aboard Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 (ET302) on a Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.
The verdict addresses injuries from a crash on 10 March 2019 shortly after departure from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport (ADD), Ethiopia — and represents the first civil courtroom judgement among dozens of lawsuits tied to the two fatal 737 MAX accidents that killed 346 people.
Details of the US $28 million Verdict of Shikha Garg
According to Reuters, the jury’s compensation to Ms. Garg’s family totals US $35.85 million, which includes:
- The verdict amount
- 26 % interest
and the publication also said that the compensation awarded to Shikha Garg’s family after the verdict was
“……the first in the dozens of lawsuits filed in the wake of that crash and another in Indonesia in 2018, which combined killed 346 people. Garg was 32 when Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Nairobi, Kenya, crashed just a few minutes after takeoff….The lawsuit alleged the 737 MAX plane was defectively designed and that Boeing failed to warn passengers and the public about its dangers.”
However, sources such as Seattle Pi have also reported that Boeing will “pay an additional $3.45 million to Garg’s husband, Soumya Bhattacharya, as part of a deal between him and the company reached outside of court“:
“Jurors weren’t tasked with weighing the aircraft maker’s liability in the crash because Boeing has already accepted responsibility. Instead, they were asked to award damages for matters such as loss of income and grief suffered by Garg’s family.”
While Boeing had already accepted responsibility for the crash and settled the vast majority of related civil suits, this was the f. AP News+1
The compensation factors included in this first case to reach a full trial in U.S. federal court included factors such as emotional distress, loss of income and the pain and suffering endured by Ms Garg before the fatal crash. AP quoted the family lawyers of Ms Garg and said that $10 million was warded for “pain and suffering and emotional distress” Garg had experienced before the crash
Background of Shikha Garg: The person whose family compensated $28 million
Flight 302, operated by Ethiopian Airlines, departed had Addis Ababa for Nairobi, Kenya, and crashed six minutes after take‑off. One of the 157 onboard was Shikha Garg, an consultant for the United Nations Development Programme. She was on her way to Nairobi, Kenya, to attend a U.N. environmental assembly.
The Associate Pres dubbed her to be “an accomplished PhD candidate“. She was an Indian citizen and had married (to Soumya Bhattacharya) just months before she boarded Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302. The source also revealed that Garg wore on the flight a sari and held flower garlands in line with Indian tradition.
Statements of Prosecutors involved in the verdict against Boeing’s first civil trail over the MAX8 crashes
Boeing had already taken the liability for the crash. After all, the entirety of its MAX 8 had been grounded following the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302.
The attorneys of Garg’s family had also revealed that Boeing will not be appealing against the $28 million compensation. A spokesperson from this aerospace manufacturer from the United States said that Boeing was deeply sorry to all whose loved ones perished in the crashes:
“While we have resolved the vast majority of these claims through settlements, families are also entitled to pursue their claims through damages trials in court and we respect their right to do so”
Garg’s family was represented by Shanin Specter and Elizabeth Crawford. After the verdict, the two had said that the compensation “provides public accountability for Boeing’s wrongful conduct“.
Dan Webb, a former U.S. attorney, and Boeing’s lawyer in this case had asked jurors to focus on “fair and reasonable” compensation for Garg’s family. After all, the representatives of Garg’s family had argued Boeing was needed to compensate between $80 million and $230 million.
Previously Boeing had argued (and the following was quoted in AP) that passengers hadn’t gone through terror before their lives ended as the impact of the crash was go great, they, in all likelihood, perished the instant the plane hit the ground:
“Attorneys for the families say their clients can’t stop thinking about the terror their loved ones suffered as the plane repeatedly dove and climbed before entering a final nosedive at nearly 700 miles per hour. The attorneys want to call experts who would testify that the passengers likely suffered physical injuries and emotional trauma before the crash.”
Webb had in turn argued that the jurors should not be basing their decision on sympathy, reported News24:
“This trial for example does not involve damages punishing Boeing, this trial only has to do with compensation…There is nothing in this case to punish Boeing and yet when I sat here and heard Mr Specter asking for $80 to $230 million, that’s not fair and reasonable
compensation. He is asking to punish Boeing.”
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