Wife of man killed in fair tragedy suing Indiana

The widow of a 49-year-old man killed by a falling stage at the Indiana State Fair plans to sue the state, her attorney said Monday.

Former Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi, who is representing the family of Glenn Goodrich, said the family has filed a tort claim notice against the state regarding intent to file a lawsuit.

The tort claim is the first to be filed following the Aug. 13 incident that claimed the lives of at least six people and injured dozens of others.

Goodrich, a security worker employed by ESG Security, died after the stage collapsed as a wind gust estimated at 60 to 70 mph toppled the roof of the stage and the metal scaffolding holding lights and other equipment. The stage collapsed onto a crowd of concertgoers awaiting a show by the country act Sugarland at the fair's grandstand.

Goodrich, who was working at the show, was critically injured in the incident and died hours later.

The tort claim was filed on behalf of Goodrich's widow, Heather, and two sons.

“This serves as the first step in the process to help Heather and her young sons obtain the resources they need to survive, as Glenn was the primary earner,” said Brizzi in a prepared statement.

Brizzi said the state has 90 days to respond to the claim.

As IBJ reported Aug. 18, Indiana caps the state's liability in accidents at $700,000 per person and at $5 million total per event, amounts that personal-injury lawyers say are too low in a situation involving so many victims.

Legal experts said that could result in several other entities aside from the state fair becoming targets of negligence lawsuits, including the designer and builder of the stage and the concert promoter.