Mollie Ghiz-Flynn, 37, died March 29 after a boat propeller cut her near Breakers Reef. Her family sued the dive-boat company.
The husband of a woman killed in a March 29 diving incident off Palm Beach has settled his federal lawsuit.
The suit, filed Sept. 11 by Sean Flynn, widower of Mollie Ghiz-Flynn, was closed Nov. 5, U.S. District Court records show. Documents do not disclose terms of the settlement.
The lawsuit had named Florida Scuba Charters and its owners, Dustin and Kristy McCabe, as well as Safe Harbor North Palm Beach, the corporate parent of the North Palm Beach marina.
It alleged Dustin McCabe, who’d just bought a two-engine boat and was using it for just for the third time, backed over Ghiz-Flynn’s legs and the Space Coast woman bled to death before she could get help.
The incident occurred about 1½ miles southeast of the Palm Beach Inlet at a popular diving spot called Breakers Reef, just off the coast from the Palm Beach hotel for which it’s named.
It said that, as Ghiz-Flynn, 37, and her husband of three years finished their first dive, they were waved over to the boat, but McCabe put the engines in reverse, and both divers were sucked under. Ghiz-Flynn became entangled in the props.
Sean Flynn, 41, struggled to free his wife, and a fellow diver and a crew member jumped into the water. Eventually, all were able to pull Ghiz-Flynn free.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said no other divers were hurt. It has said its investigation is finished and has provided some documents to The Palm Beach Post but so far has not provided a summary or said if it cited anyone in the incident.
The husband of a woman killed in a March 29 diving incident off Palm Beach has settled his federal lawsuit.
The suit, filed Sept. 11 by Sean Flynn, widower of Mollie Ghiz-Flynn, was closed Nov. 5, U.S. District Court records show. Documents do not disclose terms of the settlement.
The lawsuit had named Florida Scuba Charters and its owners, Dustin and Kristy McCabe, as well as Safe Harbor North Palm Beach, the corporate parent of the North Palm Beach marina.
It alleged Dustin McCabe, who’d just bought a two-engine boat and was using it for just for the third time, backed over Ghiz-Flynn’s legs and the Space Coast woman bled to death before she could get help.
The incident occurred about 1½ miles southeast of the Palm Beach Inlet at a popular diving spot called Breakers Reef, just off the coast from the Palm Beach hotel for which it’s named.
It said that, as Ghiz-Flynn, 37, and her husband of three years finished their first dive, they were waved over to the boat, but McCabe put the engines in reverse, and both divers were sucked under. Ghiz-Flynn became entangled in the props.
Sean Flynn, 41, struggled to free his wife, and a fellow diver and a crew member jumped into the water. Eventually, all were able to pull Ghiz-Flynn free.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said no other divers were hurt. It has said its investigation is finished and has provided some documents to The Palm Beach Post but so far has not provided a summary or said if it cited anyone in the incident.
Carol Lynn Finklehoffe, a lawyer for Sean Flynn, said Thursday she could not discuss the settlement.
Michael Winkleman, another lawyer for Flynn, did say in a statement: “We are pleased we were able to obtain some semblance of justice for Sean and for Mollie’s family. Mollie’s life was taken far too soon and it was important to seek full accountability for what was a preventable tragedy.”
Dustin McCabe has not responded to telephone calls by The Palm Beach Post. The lawsuit and online customer-review pages suggest his dive company no longer is operating.
Kristy McCabe was dropped from the lawsuit because she longer was connected to the dive company, and she’s estranged from her husband. Her lawyer, Alex Braunstein, did tell The Post Thursday that “her heart and sympathy does go out to the family for the tragic loss.”
The lawsuit named North Palm Beach Marina because, at the time of the incident, a ban on dive boats was in place as part of the lockdowns related to the coronavirus pandemic. The suit says the marina should not have facilitated the dive.
The marina’s manager, Josh Steib, said Thursday he had no comment.
