My first thought is that this must be a joke. But once the shock wore off, I thought about it a bit. I believe that to demonstrate "liability," one would have to show that the US system was somehow warranted to be able to predict, and/or that the company that made the system owed some specific duty to the people actually suing. (Any company with a halfway decent lawyer would make sure any sale contract includes fom language discaliming warranties.) Maybe the courts will somehow dispense with those types of requirements. but if there is any verdict against a company providing a warning system, they will probably declare bankruptcy and NO ONE will ever get into the business of tsunami prediction again, for fear of litigation risk.
That's a much better outcome than letting the greedy evil corporations avoid responsibility for their actions. (sarcasm)
Maybe it is a government entity being sued and not a private company. I don't know.
What are the tourists' damages anyway? Wrongful death or injury? Property loss, "emotional distress," etc.?
If they were honest about the case, they'd sue the Thai government for incompetence. Firstly, the Thais did not, and probably still do not, have people responsible for a standing 24/7/365 automated system that calls people / triggers alarms in response to any earthquake recorded (and noted on multiple web sites) over a certain magnitude. Secondly, even beyond this failing, they did not maintain a phone tree / contact list that someone like the Tsunami Warning Center could use. Knowing what I know about both Thai culture and the governmental structure there, I am in no way surprised.
Maybe it is a government entity being sued and not a private company. I don't know.
Both.
The suit, naming Accor and the US-run tsunami early warning system in the Pacific as well as Thai authorities, will be filed in a New York district court this week, the lawyers said in Vienna.