The family suing Six Flags Magic Mountain over claims that a 22-year-old died following a ride on the X2 roller coaster has been granted a hearing on sanctions against the multinational theme park for its delays in responding to requests for evidence.
In a 2023 lawsuit, Anne Hawley, of Garden Grove, alleged her son, Christopher Hawley, suffered head injuries in June 2022 from the ride that resulted in her son’s death.
After years of requests, the plaintiff attorneys at Wisner Baum are asking the judge to take action at a hearing next month to compel the theme park’s production of evidence in response to multiple requests.
Wisner Baum, the firm now representing the Hawley family, did not respond to a request for comment as of this story’s publication.
A corporate representative for Six Flags Magic Mountain declined a request for comment.
Among the requests, “water dummies” loaded onto X2 during a trip with corporate inspectors on June 28, 2022; incident reports from the ride for the six months prior to Chris Hawley’s death; any records that track the number of riders in the four years prior to the death; and medical records for any park guests injured on X2, to name a few.
In addition to calling the requests overbroad, vague and ambiguous in its arguments, attorneys for Six Flags have said the requests violate various laws regarding patient medical records, attorney work-client privilege and part of the company’s trade secrets.
Attorneys for the Hawley family say their requests are critical to proving the family’s claims about the theme park.
The $55 million ride is designed to send thrill-seekers around a track nearly three-quarters of a mile long at 76 mph, with 200 feet of elevation change, according to the Six Flags website.
The original complaint claims X2 has a two-decade history of concerns, dating back to its initial run as X in 2002. The claims also state that due to theme-park demands on the ride, the original manufacturer was not able to complete the project, and the theme park ultimately took it over.
The Hawleys’ lawsuit alleges when Christopher Hawley and two family members went on X2 in June 2022, it “jerked its riders around like rag dolls,” and as the ride ended, X2 “suddenly, abruptly, and violently jolted to a halt, jarring decedent Christopher Hawley and the other two boys in their seats.”
After Christopher Hawley exited the ride, he haltingly walked off, clutched the rail and then collapsed after his cousin and brother came to his side, according to the lawsuit. He passed out and never regained consciousness.
“Magic Mountain has repeatedly relied on ridership volume to support its contention that X2 is safe. That must be reviewed,” according to the plaintiff’s latest filing to compel Six Flags to turn over the evidence. “Plaintiffs need to know that number and analyze it. Moreover the number of people on a ride is not a trade secret.”
The lawsuit also seeks information about the ride’s wheel manufacturer, as it claims the wheels failed that day, which are part of what caused the injury.
On June 2, Judge Andrew Cooper scheduled a specially set hearing on sanctions against Six Flags for Aug. 13 at the Chatsworth Courthouse.
“Magic Mountain’s objections should be overruled and a code-compliant response, without objections, should be ordered with a complete production of documents in two weeks’ time,” according to a June 12 motion by Adam Foster of Wisner Baum.
A final status conference for the trial has been scheduled for Aug. 28, and a date to begin the jury trial was scheduled for Sept. 8.
