According to a report by WISH TV8,
An Indianapolis law firm has filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of victims of the Indiana State Fair stage collapse , the firm announced Tuesday morning, and anyone in attendance at the concert that night may be eligible to join the suit.
Cohen and Malad said in a news release that it filed the lawsuit in a Marion County court, accusing the state and companies involved of being negligent in the handling of the event and the installation and maintenance of the stage structure.
“What we already know is that the structure failed in the environment it was designed to be used in,” attorney Jeff Hammond said in a news release.
He and his firm are representing Angela Fischer, who was with her boyfriend in front of the stage when the rigging came crashing down Aug. 13 just before a Sugarland concert was to begin. Seven people have died as a result of the collapse, and more than 40 were injured.
Fischer said her boyfriend saved her life that night.
"He actually picked me up and ran in the direction away from the collapse," she recalled.
And then he went back again and again, she said, pulling victims from the rubble.
“He came out with blood up to his elbows from holding somebody's head so they wouldn't bleed out," Fischer said.
And though she herself, was neither bruised nor broken, she said she bears scars nonetheless. She said she was psychologically wounded by what she saw, heard and felt. And her attorneys believe there are many more like her that haven’t yet been counted among the injured.
"Absolutely everybody who was there and affected by the tragedy could potentially experience some sort of emotional damages," said Richard Shevitz, an attorney at Cohen and Malad.
That's why the firm plans to ask the court to certify their case as a class action suit, with the state of Indiana and Mid-America Sound Corp., the company that built the stage rigging, among the named defendants.
And because of that, all who were there were exposed to the same dangers, Shevitz said, and therefore deserve the same protection under the law and warrant a class action lawsuit.
"Flaws in the way the design of the structure, flaws in the way the structure was erected, and flaws in the way the structure was or wasn't inspected, and all the other contributing factors - those are the same with all these victims. They were all harmed by the same common set of circumstances when the tragedy occurred," he said.
He'll take that argument to the Marion County Superior Court, seeking class action certification for the 12,000 fans who attended the concert and witnessed the collapse.
The attorneys taking on the lawsuit also take issue with Indiana’s cap of $5 million total for all victims’ injuries in a class action suit. As a result, they said, they aren’t taking any money even if they win the case so more of it could be devoted to victims. The attorneys are encouraging other attorneys representing victims to do the same, and use the cases to increase public awareness about the case.
Three other lawsuits are already in the works.
In connection with one of them in LaPorte County, a judge on Tuesday issued an injunction ordering the state to take steps to preserve evidence. The lawsuits there are on behalf of two victims , one who died and another who was severely injured in the accident.
On Monday, another victim's family filed notification that it plans to sue the state also.
By: Deanna Dewberry
and staff reports
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