Eric Garner’s widow, Esaw Garner, turned down a $5 million settlement officer from New York City, according to MSN News. A “source” allegedly familiar with the Eric Garner lawsuit negotiations between the Staten Island family and NYC Controller Scott Stringer said the massive settlement was met with a negative response late last week.
Jonathan Moore, the attorney for the Eric Garner family, “urged” Esaw Garner to take the $5 million settlement offer, according to the same source. Moore allegedly also stated that Eric Garner’s widow could then seek additional money by filing a separate lawsuit against the Richmond University Medical Center EMTs who attended to her husband after his NYPD arrest.
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The Eric Garner arrest and EMT response was captured on a now-viral video. Garner was reportedly selling “loosies” — untaxed single cigarettes — on a NYC street corner on July 17, 2014. The EMTs have been accused of failing to give Garner, 43, medical treatment.
Eric Garner lawsuit negotiations are expected to continue through Friday — when the wrongful death lawsuit statute of limitations deadline expires. Eric Garner’s widow is suing the city of New York for $75 million. The $5 million settlement offer is reportedly the largest figure ever offered in a NYPD wrongful death case.
As previously reported by New York Gritty, exactly what Eric Garner did for a living remains unclear. The Garner attorney told CNN that the man who died as a result of the July police chokehold incident was part of the “underground economy” and did not elaborate further.
Esaw Garner said that she is disgusted by the U.S. justice system, according to a New York Daily News report.
“It seems like because they didn’t prosecute the officers on Staten Island, all the other officers were like, ‘H**l. We’ll get away with it. Let’s just do it again,’” Eric Garner’s widow said.
The Brooklyn U.S. Attorney is investigating NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo’s role in the Eric Garner death for possible civil rights violations.
Eric Garner’s death was ruled a homicide, and stated the chokehold reportedly used by Pantaleo contributed to the death. “I can’t breathe” was shouted by Garner multiple times during the viral video of his arrest, a chant which was used in protests of the NYPD actions nationwide in the weeks which followed the incident.
What do you think of the Eric Garner wrongful death lawsuit settlement offer of $5 million and Esaw Garner’s refusal?
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