Sports Academy Sues Helicopter Company Over Kobe Bryant Crash Funeral Costs
Kobe Bryant Crash Sports Academy Sues Helicopter Company ... Over Funeral Costs
The gym formerly known as Mamba Sports Academy is suing the company that owned the doomed helicopter in the Kobe Bryant crash ... claiming the copter co. should be forced to pay over $100K in costs related to the death of one of the passengers on board.
It's all spelled out in new court documents, obtained by TMZ Sports, in which an insurance company and the gym now known as Sports Academy are suing Island Express.
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In the docs, the Academy and the insurance co. claim that because Christina Mauser -- a girls basketball coach -- was employed by the gym at the time of her death in the crash ... they paid "death benefits and burial expenses" to her family that exceeded $127,000.
In the docs, the plaintiffs argue that Island Express should be on the hook for that bill ... claiming the crash and Mauser's subsequent death were the result of the helicopter company's negligence.
The plaintiffs are asking for a reimbursement of the amounts already paid plus any additional workers' comp payments that may come due in the future.
As we previously reported, Mauser and eight others -- including Kobe and Gigi Bryant -- died in the helicopter crash in January 2020.
After a lengthy investigation, NTSB officials concluded that the crash likely happened due to a multitude of reasons, including, "Island Express Helicopter Inc.'s inadequate review and oversight of its safety management processes."
Mauser was 38 years old.
