During a shoot for the firefighter movie, Razo was directed to convey a 3,000-pound cell digital camera crane unit instantly up a peak on the Pajarito Mountain Ski Area in New Mexico, regardless of pleas from the cameraman to put in tank threads on the unit to permit it to scale steep angles. While driving the digital camera up the mountain, the unit misplaced traction and started to slip, finally tipping backwards and pinning Razo beneath. The accident resulted in extreme spinal wire and mind accidents for Razo, and components of his physique had been additionally crushed.
A jury on December 23, 2022, awarded Razo and his spouse greater than $66 million, however the quantity was adjusted to $60 million after jurors decided that Razo himself was 19% liable for the incident. A ultimate judgement was reached on January 05, and a New Mexico state district choose ordered the 2 movie firms to pay Razo over $60 million.
But on January 06, 2023, the 2 firms filed a grievance in opposition to insurer New York Marine and General Insurance alleging breach of contract. According to the lawsuit they filed, the businesses had two insurance policies with New York Marine with a mixed legal responsibility restrict of $11 million. The firms moreover alleged within the swimsuit that as a substitute of serving to settle the declare with Razo, New York Marine employed outdoors counsel to struggle the declare for years. As the trial approached, the 2 firms demanded a settlement, however New York Marine allegedly refused and solely made gives that had been “lower than appropriate.”
The Razo household had even requested for $9 million to settle the case 4 days earlier than the December 19 trial, the lawsuit mentioned, however New York Marine didn’t even attempt to make a counteroffer. And throughout the trial itself, the insurer provided the Razos $5 million, however the “gamble did not pay off.”
This will not be the primary time New York Marine and General Insurance has been sued over a tragic incident that occurred throughout a movie manufacturing.
In 2017, the insurer was sued by Film Allman after the insurer refused to pay the manufacturing firm. Film Allman was capturing on a railway bridge in 2014 for the biopic Midnight Rider when a prepare roared by way of, killing a digital camera operator. Director Randall Miller was prosecuted for his position within the accident and took a plea deal for prison trespassing and involuntary manslaughter – at this, New York Marine cited a prison acts exclusion within the coverage after which refused to cowl the manufacturing firm.