Sugarland Responds to Lawsuit Regarding Tragic Indiana Stage Collapse
(PRWEB) February 21, 2012
Mario Massillamany of the Indiana securities law firm of Starr, Austen & Miller, LLP, announced today that Sugarland has now responded to the lawsuit his, and several other law firms have brought against Sugarland, and several other entities. This lawsuit revolves around the tragic stage collapse which occurred at the Indiana State Fair Grounds on August 13, 2011, which injured or killed 48 victims. That lawsuit is entitled 'Jill Polet et al vs Sugarland Music, Inc et al', and is filed in Marion County Superior Court 14 in Indiana under cause number 49D14-1111-CT-44823.
According to court documents, Sugarland, speaking as Lucky Star, Inc., denied any responsibility for organizing, staging or presenting the Sugarland concert which ended in such tragedy. Instead, they disclaimed all responsibility for construction or maintenance of the venue, and stated that the stage was owned and maintained by the Indiana Fair Board and Mid-America Sound, Inc., who they allege established all the requirements for its use. However, Sugarland did admit that they could not have been compelled to perform if there had been inclement weather. Sugarland did not call off the concert despite extremely strong winds in the area even before the extremely large wind gust which caused the stage collapse.
Furthermore, Sugarland's court documents asserted affirmative defenses in its answer to the complaint. The most significant of these was their assertion that they had no duty towards the victims of the stage collapse, because any and all dangers from collapse were open and obvious. Finally, Sugarland demanded a trial by jury.
Scott L. Starr, co-counsel for certain Plaintiffs in the action, has stated that the firm will continue to investigate this tragedy, including through use of the court’s discovery process to determine the veracity of these defenses and statements from Sugarland. Further, Plaintiffs' counsels continue to work with leading scientists to further identify the cause and nature of the problem with the stage, and to recommend steps so such a tragedy does not occur again.
A copy of Sugarland’s answer can be found at http://www.starrausten.com/sugarland-responds-to-lawsuit-regarding-tragic-indiana-stage-collapse/, along with additional information on the case.
Since 1982 Starr, Austen & Miller LLP has emerged with a strong reputation as a small, passionate law firm in Indiana that takes on large, complex cases. Currently, Starr, Austen & Miller LLP has pending litigation against DuPont for the environmental damages caused by their Imprelis product. Starr, Austen & Miller LLP handles stock broker fraud cases, truck accident cases, and multimillion dollar, nationwide class actions. The Starr, Austen & Miller LLP team consists primarily of securities attorneys, truck accident attorneys, and class action attorneys.
source: yahoo