Majority of State Fair victims to accept settlement - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

The majority of claimants in the Indiana State Fair stage-rigging collapse will participate in a settlement, the Indiana attorney general's office said.

The $13.2 million public-private settlement package was offered to victims of the disaster, which occurred nearly a year ago.

Wednesday was the deadline for eligible claimants, including the injured and estates of the deceased, to sign and return settlement application paperwork.

As of Wednesday night, 51 of the 62 eligible claimants who previously participated in the original settlement have now accepted the new supplemental settlement plan.

Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller called it an "expedited and reasonable settlement" that will help victims and their families pay for medical and other needs.

Claimants have the right to decline the public-private settlement offer and pursue litigation against the two participating companies. But Zoeller says that could take years, and there's no guarantee of payment by the time the lawsuit ends. Claimants who agreed to the combined settlement still are free to continue to pursue litigation against other parties not involved in the offer, Zoeller said.

More about the settlement:

The private portion of the public-private settlement includes $7.2 million offered by two companies named in lawsuits some claimants have filed: Mid-America Sound Corporation and James Thomas Engineering Inc. The Indiana Attorney General's Office helped facilitate the private settlement offer from the two companies, on top of the $6 million in public funds that the State is offering claimants.

Now the companies have up to two weeks, through August 15, to review the acceptance paperwork and determine if all conditions are met in order to proceed with their tendered offer. The companies offered the money with the condition that a sufficient ratio of claimants from the largest claims category accept the settlement and release the two companies from liability.

Claimants had to submit paperwork such as medical bills and insurance information, and the review process is ongoing. Under applicable court rules, names of claimants who accepted offers cannot be disclosed until the settlement payments are finalized.

In March, the Indiana General Assembly passed House Enrolled Act 1376 which provided $6 million in supplemental funds for victims of the stage-rigging collapse, including the estates of the seven people who died and those injured or with permanent paralysis or permanent injuries. The Legislature directed how and when those public funds must be paid, setting a deadline of January 2013 for the Attorney General's Office to distribute the $6 million through an arbitration process. The Legislature also directed that anyone accepting the money must release the State from indemnification claims.

To accept the combined $6 million in public funds and $7.2 million in private funds, claimants also had to sign an agreement releasing the two companies from liability.

If the companies' criteria are met for the private settlement, then arbitration hearings will take place in September to calculate the precise amounts that participating claimants will receive, based on medical costs and other data.

The Indiana General Assembly already specified the amounts that certain categories of claimants will receive out of the State's portion: Estates of the seven deceased will be increased from the $300,000 they received last year up to $700,000, the maximum allowed. Claimants with non-permanent injuries will have 100 percent of their out-of-pocket medical costs reimbursed out of the public money, on top of the 65 percent they were paid last year.

Arbitrators will designate the amounts for the injured claimants out of the public money as well as amounts for all categories of claimants out of the separate pool of private money.

The $6 million in supplemental state funding and $7.2 million private settlement is in addition to the $5 million in tort claim funds that the State paid to 62 eligible claimants in December. The $5 million was the maximum allowed by law under the Indiana tort claim cap.