*

Verdict is first among dozens of lawsuits filed after 737

MAX

crashes

*

Garg's family to receive $35.85 million, including

interest

*

Boeing ( BA ) has settled over 90% of related lawsuits, paying

billions

in compensation

By Diana Novak Jones

CHICAGO, Nov 12 (Reuters) - A jury in federal court in

Chicago ordered Boeing ( BA ) on Wednesday to pay more than $28

million to the family of a United Nations environmental worker

who was killed in the 2019 crash of a 737 MAX jet in Ethiopia.

The verdict awarded to the family of Shikha Garg is the

first in the dozens of lawsuits filed in the wake of that crash

and another in Indonesia in 2018, which combined killed 346

people.

Under a deal between the parties struck on Wednesday

morning, Garg's family will receive $35.85 million - the full

verdict amount plus 26% interest - and Boeing ( BA ) will not appeal,

according to attorneys for the family.

Boeing ( BA ) did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Shanin Specter and Elizabeth Crawford, who represented the

family, said in a statement the verdict "provides public

accountability for Boeing's ( BA ) wrongful conduct."

Garg was 32 when Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 from Addis

Ababa, Ethiopia, to Nairobi, Kenya, crashed just a few minutes

after takeoff, her lawyers said.

The lawsuit alleged the 737 MAX plane was defectively

designed and that Boeing ( BA ) failed to warn passengers and the

public about its dangers.

The Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed five months after Lion

Air Flight 610 crashed into the Java Sea in Indonesia. An

automated flight control system contributed to both crashes.

The U.S. planemaker has settled more than 90% of the dozens

of civil lawsuits related to the two accidents, paying out

billions of dollars in compensation through lawsuits, a deferred

prosecution agreement and other payments, the company previously

told Reuters.

On November 5, Boeing ( BA ) settled three lawsuits brought by the

families of other victims who died in the Ethiopian Airlines

crash, according to their attorney. The terms of those

settlements were not released.