FILE – In this Oct. 3, 2017, file photo, windows are broken at the Mandalay Bay resort and casino in Las Vegas, the room from where Stephen Craig Paddock fired on a nearby music festival, killing 58 and injuring hundreds on Oct. 1. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
LAS VEGAS (AP) – MGM Resorts International drew criticism Tuesday for saying hundreds of survivors of the Las Vegas mass shooting, who are being sued by the casino operator, could opt to have the money that will be used to serve them a lawsuit instead donated to a charity.
The company in July sued more than 1,900 victims of the Oct. 1 mass shooting at one of its properties and has been working to notify them as it faces a standard 90-day deadline.
MGM told the victims’ attorneys it would rather make the donations to charities than spend the money to pay people to serve the legal notices.
“The money spent on personal service of process – up to $250 per person – could be better directed to do some affirmative good,” MGM’s attorneys wrote in the letter shared with The Associated Press.
MGM offered to make a $500 charitable donation for each person who waives being served or authorizes an attorney to accept service on their behalf, but a victims’ lawyer quickly called it all “nonsense.”