INDIANAPOLIS —
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.
The clause sought by Attorney General Greg Zoeller tied the state money to a settlement with the company that owned the stage, and thrust the state into the role of negotiator as lawsuits swirled over the Aug. 13, 2011, stage collapse at a show by country duo Sugarland.
The state would make $6 million available, and victims could share another $7.2 million offered by the stage owner and manufacturer if they agreed not to sue the companies.
“This is about putting victims first,” Zoeller said in a June 22 press release announcing the combined settlement, which he said lawmakers had approved.
What Zoeller didn’t say — and what has surprised even the bill’s author — was that the enhanced settlement was actually designed to shield the state from potentially paying out even more for the collapse that killed seven people and injured dozens more.
Documents obtained this week by The Associated Press show Mid-America Sound Corp., which owned the stage, was ready to sue the state to get back any money victims won in lawsuits against the bankrupt the companies.
Invoices signed by fair executive director Cindy Hoye in the months after the collapse include an “indemnification” clause that requires the fair to assume all responsibility for any judgments, fines, injuries and loss of life resulting from use of the equipment and to hold the companies harmless.
Fair spokeswoman Stephanie McFarland referred questions about the invoices to the attorney general’s office today.
Attorneys for Mid-America claim the invoices constitute binding contracts, a contention the state disputes. But after the state had already paid $5 million, and with lawmakers prepare to provide $6 million more, Zoeller decided it was better not to test that argument in court.
Zoeller’s point man on the fair settlement, Larry Hopkins, told The Associated Press the plan tying the additional state money to the settlement offer from the two companies was the best way to avoid years of wrangling in court while protecting the state from a potentially massive judgment.
“The idea would be that if these claimants sued Mid-America and they succeeded in winning the lawsuit and there was a judgment, that potentially the state then is on the hook for that, even though we would fight it as vigorously as we could,” Hopkins said. “Part of our mission with that new legislation was to try and deal with that indemnification claim and extinguish it.”
The potential threat to the state was huge. Indiana law caps the state’s liability at $5 million per incident for claims made directly by victims, but state lawyers said the “indemnification” argument Mid-America used could have fallen outside that cap.
It’s still unclear whether the settlement will stand. Zoeller’s office has said a “sufficient number” of victims must accept the offer for it to go forward, but it won’t say what that number is. The state has secured waivers from 51 of the 62 victims and their estates, agreeing to clear Mid-America Sound and stage manufacturer James Thomas Engineering of any wrongdoing. The companies have until Aug. 15 to decide whether that’s enough for them to agree to the settlement and let the state off the hook.
Attorney Kenneth J. Allen, who represents the estates of three women killed in the collapse, says the victims’ families are appalled that the state is carrying water for a private company. The families of the three — Alina Bigjohny, Christina Santiago and Tammy Vandam — have refused to agree to the settlement because they don’t think the companies should be released from responsibility. They’ve filed a lawsuit in Marion County Superior Court objecting to the deal.
Allen said the families are willing to agree not to sue the state, but they won’t release the companies from liability because the law doesn’t require it and because they want their day in court.
“My victims are most interested in justice here, and that’s not going to be done by backroom deals,” Allen said.
Sen. Luke Kenley said state lawyers approached him in February about altering the legislation to protect the state against Mid-America. James Thomas was later added to the deal by Zoeller’s office, although it had not threatened to sue the state.
“It was considered to be a trade-off,” Kenley said. The companies would put their insurance policy amounts into a pool the state would contribute to.
“That would probably take some heat off of them,” Kenley said of the companies. “And as a practical matter, it would obviate the necessity for having to litigate the indemnification clause that they were putting on these invoices.”
Gov. Mitch Daniels, who asked lawmakers to find extra money for the fair victims in his final State of the State address, said the attorney general’s office alerted him to the move and he trusted Zoeller’s judgment on the issue. Daniels said today he would have approved the additional money for the victims whether or not the Mid-America settlement was included.
The move to protect the state caught some lawmakers who had worked on the legislation by surprise.
Rep. Jeff Espich, the Uniondale Republican who submitted the bill, said he knew Zoeller’s office had been given “significant latitude” to distribute the money, but he said he was unaware that Mid-America had threatened to sue the state if it lost in court.
Rep. Ed DeLaney, a Democrat who proposed lifting the state’s payout cap from $5 million to $22 million, said he, too, was unaware that the additional money was tied to a settlement with the two companies. He said the move amounts to the state picking winners and losers in the aftermath of the stage collapse.
“There is a fundamental unfairness here,” he said today. “Every other player is exposed to pay the limits of its insurance policy and its assets.”
State News
Fair victims settlement shields Indiana from company
- State News
-
-
Indiana’s high school grad rate continues upward
Indiana’s reported high school graduation rate continues to improve, moving from 77 percent to more than 88 percent in less than a decade, but there are still significant achievement gaps marked by race and income.
-
Schools chief Ritz on fast learning curve
For many occupants of the Indiana Statehouse, the week after the General Assembly wraps up its final frenzy of work is a quiet one. But not for Glenda Ritz.
-
SLIDESHOW: Governor Otis R. Bowen
Photos from the Indiana State Archives of the late Otis R. Bowen, who served as governor of the state as well as in the Ronald Reagan White House. The Bremen native died Saturday
-
Out of office, Lugar shuns retirement
One year ago, Indiana’s longest serving U.S. senator was rejected by Republican primary voters and forced into an unwelcome retirement from a distinguished political career that spanned 46 years. But at 81, former U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar is hardly in a resting mode.
-
Lugar wary of Syria involvement
Former U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar has been out of office since early January, but he’s still being sought after for his opinion about foreign policy matters he once helped shape.
-
Judge grants class status to lawsuit again BMV
INDIANAPOLIS — As many as 4 million Indiana drivers could become plaintiffs in a lawsuit alleging the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles has overcharged for driver’s licenses since 2007.
-
Budget deal includes little funding for criminal code reform
Facing the end-of-session deadline, Indiana legislators moved forward on a bill to overhaul the state’s criminal sentencing laws but left undone the issue of where local communities will get the money to implement it.
-
Legislators closing in on final budget
In his first four months as the chief budget maker in the Indiana House, Republican Rep. Tim Brown hasn’t been surprised by the long hours, multiple demands and intense debate that goes with crafting a $30 billion spending plan.
-
New poll shows voters tepid on Pence tax plan
With just days to go before the deadline for a final budget bill, a new independent poll shows Republican Gov. Mike Pence may not have gotten much mileage for his travels around the state pitching his 10 percent tax cut plan.
-
DOC hopes ‘cold case’ cards lead to solved cases
Indiana state prison officials are using customized playing cards for a deadly serious purpose: To help unlock the mysteries of unsolved murders and persons gone missing.
-
Indiana attorney general says Congress must act on immigration reform
Amidst concerns that the Boston Marathon bombing may derail federal action on comprehensive immigration reform, Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller is turning up some collective heat on Congress to move ahead.
-
Disagreements stall criminal code reform bill
Negotiations over the final language in a bill that rewrites Indiana’s criminal code may come down to the last week of the legislative session.
-
Budget forecasters predict bigger drop in gaming revenues
While a gaming bill is still in play in the General Assembly, state budget forecasters are predicting the payoff to the state from legalized gambling will be even lower than they thought.
-
Legislature heads into final stretch
The Indiana General Assembly has slogged its way through hundreds of bills since convening in January but in some critical ways, the real work has just begun.
-
Criminal records bill passes Indiana Senate
Legislation that would allow some people with long-ago arrests and convictions in Indiana to wipe clean their criminal record has moved one step closer to the governor’s desk.
-
Court challenge likely for welfare drug-testing bill
Both chambers of the Indiana General Assembly have passed a bill that ties drug testing to welfare benefits, but if signed into law, the next debate may be on the question: Is it constitutional?
-
Push to roll back ban on in-state tuition for immigrants stops short
House Republicans who wanted to roll back a two-year-old ban on in-state tuition for the children of undocumented immigrants have abandoned their plan to expand a Senate bill covering a much smaller group of students.
-
House committee OKs in-state tuition for some undocumented students
The debate over in-state college tuition for the children of undocumented immigrants is headed for the Indiana House.
-
Legislators working on funding plan for criminal code rewrite
As legislation that overhauls Indiana’s criminal code moves forward, supporters of the bill are working on finding funding for local communities to implement it.
-
Republican super PAC leader backs immigration reform
As the politics of immigration reform heats up in the Statehouse and Congress, a prominent Republican is ramping up his efforts to rid the influence of what he calls anti-immigrant “extremists” in his party.
-
House considers bill to shorten school day
Legislation that would have freed the state’s high-performing schools from the mandatory 180-day school year has been amended in the House with a provision to shorten the school day instead.
-
House committee debates ban on in-state tuition for immigrant children
Two years after banning the children of undocumented immigrants from paying in-state tuition rates at the state’s public universities, Indiana legislators are debating whether to roll back that prohibition.
-
Pence says Senate GOP plan for 3 percent tax cut not enough
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence appears to be still dug in on his demand for a 10 percent income tax cut, despite a “nod” from Senate Republicans willing to give him a smaller slice of what he wants.
-
Conservative coalition supports rollback of immigrant tuition ban
Supporters of a national coalition of conservative clergy, law enforcement and business leaders are calling on Indiana lawmakers to roll back the state’s ban on in-state college tuition for the children of immigrants who came here illegally.
-
Pence’s 'ERASER' bill appears dead
Legislation pushed by Gov. Mike Pence to eliminate licensing requirements for more than a dozen occupations is apparently dead, killed by a lack of support from both Republicans and Democrats in the General Assembly.
-
Bill limiting seclusion and restraint to discipline students moves ahead
Legislation aimed at reducing the use of physical restraints and locked isolation rooms to discipline students continues to gain support in the General Assembly.
-
House committee pushes Pence to negotiate Medicaid expansion
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence has insisted he won’t expand what he calls the “broken” Medicaid health insurance program for the poor, but some state legislators are encouraging him to do so, even it’s called by another name.
-
Debate over pot penalties not over in Indiana
The politics of pot may keep Indiana lawmakers from rolling back the state’s tough marijuana laws this session, but it won’t eradicate the push for decriminalization.
-
Gun-rights lawmaker wants tougher gun penalty
One of the chief sponsors of legislation that would rewrite the Indiana criminal code wants to amend the bill to add a mandatory five-year prison sentence for using a gun to commit a felony.
-
DOC says criminal code bill will cause spike in prison numbers
A week after Gov. Mike Pence caught lawmakers by surprise with his opposition to a major criminal code reform bill, the state Department of Correction is projecting the bill will blow up the state’s prison population far beyond what the legislature’s non-partisan research agency says it will.
- More State News Headlines
-
Indiana’s high school grad rate continues upward
Raw: Tornado on the Ground in Oklahoma
Raw: Rescue Workers Search Oklahoma School
Raw: Aftermath of Massive Tornado in Oklahoma
Huge Tornado Kills Dozens Near Oklahoma City
Oklahoma Gov: 'Hearts Are Broken' After Tornado
Raw: Rescuers Pull Tornado Survivors to Safety
Raw: Walking in a Flattened Okla. Neighborhood
Raw: Massive Funnel Clouds in Oklahoma
Raw: Witness Describes Scene After Okla. Tornado
Raw: Widespread Destruction in Moore, Okla.
Raw: Suspects Butt Dial 911, Lead to Arrest
Raw: House Burns After Massive Oklahoma Tornado
Voters Could Elect LA's First Female Mayor
Active Search for Utah Missing Mom Ends
Split-second Choice Ended With NY Student Dead
White House Backs 'Shield Law' for Media
Pug Life on Display at Wisconsin Festival
Tornadoes, Storms Strike Midwest
RAW: TV Staff Take Cover From Tornado
Raw: Swarm of Tornadoes Slams Plains
IWitness Look at Moore, OK Tornado
Trailer: 'The Last Stand' Available on Blu-ray Disc, DVD, Digital Download
Okla. tornado survivor finds dog buried alive under rubble
Pickler's Dance Moves Cause A Stir
Reporter Cries Over Devastation
Sneak Peek: 'Modern Family' Says Good Bye
RAW: Moore, OK tornado touches down near school
Robert Pattinson Moves Out
RAW: Russian dash cam catches car 20 feet in the air
Oklahoma tornado survivor: "Everything is gone"
Khloe Lashes Out at Kim Kardashian's Critics
Couple Argues As Woman's Lover Crawls Out Window
RAW: Brad Paisley Forgets Lyrics To His Own Song
Justin Bieber Gets Booed
New 'Anchorman 2' Trailer, Drake Joins List of Rumored Cameos
Eva Longoria's Wardrobe Malfunction
Heat Star Dwyane Wade Surprises Coral Gables Teen At Prom
Steak n' Shake waitress scores huge tip
Singer Miguel Accidentally Lands on Fan At Billboard Music Awards
