Kobe Bryant’s Helicopter Operator’s Claims Fail, DOJ Says

Claims against air traffic controllers lodged by the helicopter operator named in a suit by Kobe Bryant’s widow over her husband’s death should be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, the Justice Department told the Central District of California.

The claims of Island Express Helicopters Inc. against the air traffic controllers fail because they couldn’t have been brought in the original state court action and so weren’t a sufficient basis to remove the case to federal court, the government said in a filing in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

The government cited a December 2020 ruling ...