Sugarland insurer sues state fair over stage collapse
Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. is suing the state and Indiana State Fair Commission over losses from instruments and sound equipment that was damaged in the Aug. 13, 2011, stage collapse.
Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. is suing the state and Indiana State Fair Commission over losses from instruments and sound equipment that was damaged in the Aug. 13, 2011, stage collapse.
The owner of the stage that collapsed at Indiana's State Fair last year and killed seven people rejected a settlement plan Wednesday that would have protected the state from further legal action and paid victims an additional $7.2 million.
Indiana lawmakers presented their decision to offer an additional $6 million to victims of a deadly stage collapse at last year's state fair as a way to help those who weren't adequately compensated by its first settlement. But buried in the legislation was a clause protecting the state from having to pay even more.
To get some of the additional $6 million the state is offering, victims of the Indiana State Fair stage collapse would agree to clear Mid America Sound and J. Thomas Engineering of any wrongdoing. In return, they also would get a portion of $7.2 million the companies are offering.
Attorneys for country duo Sugarland say concertgoers were at least partly to blame for injuries suffered in the 2011 stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair. The stance drew a sharp reaction from fans Tuesday and prompted the band’s manager to issue a statement criticizing the finger-pointing.
Sugarland resisted delaying the start of a concert at the state fair despite threatening weather that caused a deadly stage collapse, the fair's top official testified against the company that built the stage rigging.
The family of a Fort Wayne woman killed when a stage collapsed at the Indiana State Fair filed a lawsuit Monday alleging gross negligence and recklessness by the promoters and producers of the concert.