Kiss guitar technician’s widow’s wrongful death lawsuit survives appeal

The family of Kiss’ guitar technician who died of Covid-19 during the band’s End of the Road tour World Tour won a round of its wrongful death lawsuit against the band, as the band’s motion to dismiss the case was denied in a Los Angeles court on Friday.

Catherine Stueber – whose husband Fran worked as a guitar technician for Paul Stanley for decades – first filed the lawsuit along with several members of her family in October 2023 against Stanley, Gene Simmons and Kiss’ longtime manager Doc McGee, claiming negligence and wrongful death. Tour promoter Live Nation and the Marriott hotel chain were named as defendants.

McGee, Simmons and Stanley challenged the lawsuit in a plea first filed in December, arguing that the defendants and Stueber’s family had already settled the matter in 2023 through a $250,000 settlement. “Plaintiffs have already been compensated. This lawsuit is an impermissible attempt on their part to ‘double-cash,'” the band and McGee’s attorney Barry Mallen wrote at the time.

“There was clearly never any intention to settle a workers’ compensation lawsuit, which was the plaintiffs’ only remedy, only to then see the same parties file a civil suit in Supreme Court against the individuals who owned and operated the KISS travel company that employed the deceased,” Mallen wrote in a separate document last week.

Stueber’s lawyers had argued that the damages claim was settled with the Kiss company itself, not with Stanley, Simmons and McGee. The company was not named as a defendant in the case.

The lawsuit was filed over two years later Rolling Stone first published an investigation detailing claims by several Kiss roadies that minimal Covid protocols contributed to Stueber’s death. The roadies claimed they were not regularly tested and that Stueber died in his Michigan hotel room after quarantining following his illness.

“I couldn’t believe how unsafe it was and that we were still on the road,” said one roadie Rolling Stone back then. “We were frustrated for weeks and when Fran died, I just thought: ‘You can’t be serious.'”

The band denied the roadies’ allegations at the time, saying the band’s protocols had “met but mostly exceeded federal, state and local guidelines. But ultimately, this is still a global pandemic and there is simply no foolproof way to tour without some degree of risk.” The band also claimed, Rolling Stone that some crew members had falsified their vaccination certificates.

In the original complaint, Stueber’s family alleged that “as a direct and proximate result of the dangerous situation created by the defendants, the decedent suffered fatal injuries and the plaintiffs suffered damages, including, but not limited to, funeral and burial expenses, permanent loss of love, companionship, affection, comfort, companionship, security, assistance, services and financial support, and moral support from the decedent.”

In a preliminary ruling filed earlier this week, the presiding judge wrote that the defendants “have not proven that an employment relationship existed between any of the defendants and the decedent, nor has it been proven that any of the defendants was released when the plaintiffs settled a workers’ compensation lawsuit against The Kiss Company.”

“Defendants argue that plaintiffs’ workers’ compensation claim against The Kiss Company makes it appear as if plaintiffs have already exercised their exclusive remedy for relief from defendants. Simply put, this is not clear from the complaint, as plaintiffs allege that no employment relationship existed between defendants and decedent,” the judge continued. “In addition, it is not readily apparent whether defendants were released by the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board’s order approving a settlement and release on the claim for alimony. All that the complaint states is that decedent worked as a guitar technician for the rock band KISS, defendant McGhee Entertainment, Inc. managed KISS, and defendants had contracts with each other.”

In a hearing on Friday, Mallen also argued that the dispute had already been resolved by the worker’s compensation agreement, but Judge Lisa Sepe-Wiesenfeld stuck to her tentative ruling and dismissed the appeal. She ordered the defense to respond to the original complaint within the next 20 days. Since the appeal was unsuccessful, Mallen indicated that the defense would file a motion for summary judgment, which, if granted, would end the case.

“We will file a motion for summary judgment, this case is closed,” he said.