A Florida couple who sued OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush have dropped their lawsuit out of respect for the victims of the tragic Titan submersible, which imploded last week.
Marc and Sharon Hagle in February filed a lawsuit against Rush, one of five to die aboard the doomed sub, claiming the OceanGate chief had refused to refund $210,000 they had paid for a deep-sea exploration in 2018 even after he repeatedly cancelled the tour.
But the death of Rush, along with British billionaire Hamish Harding, French navy veteran PH Nargeolet, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, and his 19-year-old son Suleman, led the Hagles to drop their case.
‘Like most around the world, we have watched the coverage of the OceanGate Titan capsule with great concern and enormous amount of sadness and compassion for the families of those who lost their lives,’ they told Fox 35.
‘In light of these tragic events, we have informed our attorneys to withdraw all legal actions against Stockton.
‘We honour their zest for life, as well as their commitment to the exploration of our oceans.’
The Hagles are Orlando-based real estate moguls and have a penchant for thrill-seeking.
Last year they fulfilled a ‘lifelong dream’ of going to space when they blasted off aboard Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin spacecraft.
They had planned a deep sea tour with OceanGate as early as 2016, when they paid an initial $20,000 deposit for a dive expedition.
Then in 2018, the pair received contracts instructing them to pay the full cost of the expedition, close to $200,000.
But the couple said a series of planned dives were cancelled by Rush, whose company allegedly refused to refund their money when requested to do so.
In light of the catastrophic implosion of the Titan submersible last week, the Hagles said that ‘honor, respect and dignity’ were more important to humanity than money, chose to drop their lawsuit against Rush and OceanGate, and instead sent well-wishes to the victims’ families.
After a week-long search, the five members aboard the Titan submersible were confirmed dead last week.
