[SML] Venue/Landlord pay millions for Circus Rigging error

[Bill Conner]

Interesting but not surprising. Very likely the civic center and its
management had much deeper pockets - more insurance - than Feld.  Seems
like this may lead to more confrontations between venues and tours, since
it seems to hold the venue responsible for the tour's work.  That assumes
tours will resume someday.

Lou, thanks for posting this.

On Sat, Dec 26, 2020, 7:36 PM Lou Poppler via Stagecraft <
stagecraft at theatrical.net> wrote:

>
> https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/21/us/circus-acrobats-injured-settlement.html
>
> In Rhode Island in 2014, at a Feld "Ringling Bros" show, eight acrobats
> fell
> after a rigging failure.  (IIRC the entire rigged assembly supporting the
> acrobats was suspended from a single carabiner which was cocked slightly
> so that the load was not oriented along the long axis.)
>
> Later that year, OSHA issued a $7,000 fine — “the maximum fine allowed by
> law”
> — to Feld Entertainment.  Last Monday, lawyers for the acrobats settled
> a lawsuit with the owner and operator of the arena where the performance
> took
> place, for $52.5 million (Rhode Island Convention Center, and SMG).
>
> The acrobats' lawyer said: "There are safety standards and safety features
> that were supposed to be in place for every event, no matter whether it’s
> the circus, or whether you’re dealing with, you know, college basketball,”
> Mr. Mandell said. “Those were not used, they were not utilized for this
> performance, and so that is where our claims against the arena derived
> from.”
>
> My interest in all this, as a retired local crew high rigger (or sometimes
> lead local rigger) is to suggest that we might need to be more assertive
> about complaining, when we see the touring riggers or show management
> rigging something in a questionable manner.
>
>
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