The death of a young woman who overdosed at HARD Summer Music Festival 2016 has sparked a new lawsuit for parent company Live Nation, according to Billboard.
Roxanne Ngo, a fourth-year student at UC Riverside, was one of three attendants who passed away at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California due to drug-related overdoses linked to MDMA. Her parents filed a lawsuit back on July 31st at the San Bernardino Supreme Court where they allege negligence and wrongful death charges onto Live Nation.
Lee Sherman, the attorney representing the Ngo family, says that Live Nation could have done more to prepare for potential overdoses and medical emergencies. From overcrowding to understaffing, the lawsuit claims that there was not enough security and medical personnel on location for the event with about 147,000 people. The lawsuit also claims that HARD Summer did not have enough drinking water for attendees circling back to alleged negligence on Live Nation.
According to the lawsuit, Live Nation “oversold the event and created an atmosphere that was over attended, overcrowded and dangerous,” while organizers “put profits ahead of the safety of the HARD fest attendees including Roxanne Ngo.”
Currently, Live Nation has not commented on the situation. Although six people in total have died since Live Nation has acquired HARD Summer, the parent company teamed up with the San Bernandino County’s Board of Supervisors to form a “rave task force” to minimize injuries for this year. Although no one died at the Glen Helen Amphitheater in Devore, California, the latest location to host HARD Summer, 107 festival-goers were arrested and 19 were hospitalized.
Source: Billboard