Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley Fighting Wrongful Death Lawsuit Brought by KISS Guitar Tech’s Family
Dec. 19 2023, Published 9:55 a.m. ET
Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley demanded the lawsuit brought by the family of KISS’s guitar tech who died while on tour be thrown out of court.
According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, the KISS band members argued the family was paid a 6-figure sum as part of a separate legal action over the death.
In October, the estate of Francis S. Stueber filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Live Nation, Gene Simmons, Doc McHee and Paul Stanley.
In the suit, the family of Francis, a guitar tech who worked for KISS, claimed he died due to the band’s lax rules about COVID while on tour.
The suit said Stueber joined KISS on The End of the Road Tour in 2019. The estate said the pandemic caused the tour to be delayed by 18 months.
The band resumed the tour in Massachusetts in October 2021. The estate said the band’s staff put together a book of health and safety guidelines.
The guidelines provided information on self-monitoring, what to do if a tour member tested positive and how many days it would take for them to rejoin.
“The Safety Guidelines had absolutely no recommendation, information, policies, procedures, or safety measures of any kind regarding what to do once an individual contracted Covid-19 and was quarantining in a random hotel room by themselves,” the lawsuit read.
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The suit said Stueber was exposed to COVID while touring in Wheatland, California. “On or about October 15, 2021, Decedent tested positive for Covid-19 while touring in Detroit, Michigan. He was instructed to quarantine at the Four Points Hotel by Sheraton, which he did,” the suit read. “As Decedent’s condition worsened, he contacted tour manager, Doc. Doc assured Decedent he would arrange for medical personnel to come by Decedent’s hotel room and/or for Decedent to be evaluated by medical personnel.”
The suit said Doc instructed a tour member to check on Stueber but never sent a medical professional. The tour member showed up to the hotel room to find the guitarist dead.
The family said the band’s safety guidelines “created an unreasonable risk of harm that infected tour personnel would be left alone in a hotel room in a random city, without any policies or procedures for seeking treatment.”
“Defendants failed to exercise reasonable care in resuming the End of the Road Tour during the global pandemic, and Decedent contracted Covid-19 as a result of Defendants’ negligence,” the suit read.
Now, Gene, Paul and Doc McHee denied all allegations of wrongdoing. Further, the band argued Stueber’s family already filed a workers compensation action against The Kiss Company for injuries and damages over Stueber’s death.
The band said the case was settled in February 2023 where Stueber’s family was paid a $250k settlement. As a result, the KISS band members argued the case has already been resolved and the lawsuit should be thrown out of court.