EA Donates $1M To Fla. Shooting Victims In Face Of Lawsuit

Law360 (August 31, 2018, 8:00 PM EDT) — Electronic Arts Inc. donated $1 million on Friday to a GoFundMe campaign it set up to benefit victims of the recent deadly shooting at a video game event in Jacksonville, Florida, just hours after the first lawsuit was filed in Florida state court in connection with the incident.

The video game giant unveiled the seven-figure donation it made to the “Jacksonville Tribute Fund” launched Friday on the crowdfunding website in its efforts to raise $2 million for those killed and injured in the Aug. 26 shooting, which ended in three deaths, including the alleged shooter’s, and left several others wounded. The event was a regional qualifier of a tournament for professional and amateur players of the EA football video game Madden NFL.

EA has acted quickly following the incident, announcing two days after the shooting that it was canceling the three remaining Madden events slated for later this year, as it wished to review its security protocols for such events. It had also announced on Wednesday its intention to make the $1 million donation before launching the fund on Friday.

The company was hit with the first of possibly several lawsuits related to the shooting, as event participant Jacob Mitich lodged a Thursday complaint in Duval County Circuit Court blaming EA, the venue where the event was held and a company tasked with security of being responsible for two gunshot wounds he sustained in the shooting.

Mitich’s attorney, James Young of Morgan & Morgan PA, told Law360 he was glad to see EA make the donation to victims and their families but the company must still be held accountable.

“What’s most important in this case is that they take responsibility for their role in what happened and ensure they’re creating a safe and secure environment for gamers going forward,” he said.

The suit claims EA did not have a designated employee in charge of security for such events and “failed to conduct minimal research into the locations which would host their regional tournaments,” according to the 49-page complaint.

Mitich also alleges that EA failed to properly screen the event’s participants at a venue that was overcrowded and lacked the proper permits.

“Combined with an alleged abject failure to provide adequate security, the result was tragic,” Young said in a Thursday statement. “We are bringing this lawsuit to hold those responsible accountable, and to ensure that gamers like Jake are able to get together to pursue their passion without having to fear for their lives.”

A spokeswoman for co-defendant Sleiman Enterprises Inc., which operated the shopping complex known as The Landing where the shooting took place, said the company was saddened by the incident but did not provide any comment on the lawsuit.

“The Jacksonville Landing is fully cooperating with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and all ongoing investigations,” the spokeswoman said in a statement.

A spokeswoman for the security company, Allied Universal, said it was company policy not to comment on pending litigation.

Mitich is represented by James D. Young, Timothy S. Moran and Jeffrey J. Humphries of Morgan & Morgan PA, Cyrus Mehri and N. Jeremi Duru of Mehri & Skalet PLLC and William S. Heyman and Kelly Raynaud of Heyman Law Firm.

Counsel information for the defendants was not immediately available Friday.

The case is Jacob Mitich v. Electronic Arts Inc. et al., case number unavailable, in the Circuit Court of the Fourth Judicial Circuit, in and for Duval County, Florida.

 

Written by Y. Peter Kang
Editing by Nicole Bleier