Diz Locaria was quoted in The Nevada Independent on July 22, 2018, Country Air Check on July 23, 2018, and in HOTELS Magazine on July 26, 2018, in articles about how MGM Resorts International has filed nine lawsuits across the country against the 2,500 victims of the October 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas.
MGM's lawsuit asks a judge for declaratory relief and makes the case that the company should be shielded from liability due to the SAFETY Act. The legal question that will have to be decided by the Department of Homeland Security is whether the mass shooting is designated as an "act of terrorism," which is the only way the SAFETY Act can be invoked.
Mr. Locaria told the Nevada Independent that MGM's attempt to have a judge determine whether it was terrorism 'probably runs afoul of the statute and regulations'. Even so, he's interested to see whether one of the federal judges believes he or she has jurisdiction to make that decision.
Locaria noted in Country Air Check that MGM will need to convince the court of two things, "First, that the court has jurisdiction to determine that this was an act of terrorism. The way the statute is constructed provides the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security with [sole] authority to make that decision. Then they will seek a judge's ruling on whether this was an act of terror, which is the easier determination."
"It's the first time the SAFETY Act has been tested in any way," Locaria added in HOTELS Magazine.