A San Bernardino woman who visited Six Flags Magic Mountain in February 2020 and claimed the amusement park’s X2 ride caused her “shock and injury to her nervous systems and person,” which left her permanently disabled, is suing the park.
Attorneys for Six Flags filed a motion Nov. 1 seeking a summary judgment in Department F49 of the Chatsworth courthouse claiming the lawsuit lacks merit.
That hearing is expected to take place Jan. 16.
The lawsuit filed by Ari and Sheila Katerelos, which also names as a defendant Tim Burkhart — the now-retired former general manager and vice president of the theme park, who now serves as a city of Santa Clarita planning commissioner — claims the park and ride manufacturer breached their duties by offering a ride to the public that wasn’t safe.
In the park’s response, its attorneys argue the couple doesn’t establish any negligence, their claims lack the necessary elements to prove Katerelos’ injuries were caused by the park and that “expert testing of the X2 proves that Sheila Katerelos’ claimed traumatic brain injury was not caused by the X2 ride.”
Six Flags Magic Mountain is the largest employer in the Santa Clarita Valley, with more than 2,500 workers, many of them seasonal.
The theme park initially opened in 1971 as a $20 million, 200-acre partnership between The Newhall Land & Farming Co. and Sea World.
Its parent company, Six Flags, recently joined forces with Ohio-based Cedar Fair to create an $8 billion “merger of equals.”
