Kenneth J. Allen has taken claims for his clients to the federal courtroom in the Indiana State Fair tragedy, and in December, U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker approved Ken Allen’s arguments and certified all of the victims of the Indiana State Fair concert as a class that will unite in an argument that the Indiana state cap on the state’s liability at $5 million total goes against the U.S. Constitution and shouldn’t be allowed as a defense from the State of Indiana having to pay monetary damages to those harmed and killed in the Indiana State Fair Tragedy last year.
Right now, Indiana caps the State of Indiana at being liable for $700,000 per victim and having to pay in total of $5 million for all victims. According to the Indiana law, once that $5 million is paid, that’s all that Indiana has to do.
This week, the State of Indiana Department of Labor issued its Safety Order on the Indiana State Fair.
In its report, the state safety agency cited Mid-America Sound Corp. with 3 major safety violations. According to the report, Mid-America Sound Corp. knew of its requirements and was indifferent to making sure that it met them. The Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration has fined the company $63,000.
You can read the Indiana OSHA report online here.
What Does This Mean?
As Kenneth J. Allen has explained to the Indianapolis Star, this Indiana OSHA Report may not carry much weight in the ultimate fight for justice here. Not only does the Indiana agency report have a political ribbon running through it, Allen also points out that if it were not for bad calls being made by those at the top (i.e., not the construction workers eyed in the report) then there would have been no tragedy that day. Kenneth J. Allen is doing his own investigation and as he explained to the media, it’s got more involved than this OSHA report.
