Archive for the ‘Unsafe Premise’ Category

People injured at the tragic Indiana State Fair stage collapse, and the people who have lost loved ones, are finding they are doubly cursed.

Not only do they suffer this tragedy but then they discover when they seek the assistance of attorneys to obtain fair compensation for their losses and injuries, how unlikely it is that they will be justly compensated. Fair compensation for the victims’ losses can’t happen with the current Indiana statute limiting liability for public agencies and employees.  Indiana’s liability limits are totally inadequate to cover a situation such as this one.

The incident itself at the Indiana State Fair was horrific. Shortly before 9 p.m. on August 13, stage rigging collapsed in strong winds right before a Sugarland concert, killing seven people and injuring scores more. The combination of foreseeable summer weather, bringing with it strong but not unknown winds, failure to warn the audience despite having warnings from the National Weather Service and improper and below industry standard construction of the stage rigging combined to cause the stage rigging to collapse and injure many who were there simply to spend a warm summer evening listening to their favorite band.

The causes of the collapse, and the judgment of those who should have given evacuation orders, are still under official investigation. For its part, Hausmann-McNally is also investigating the installers, stage component suppliers, engineers, independent and outside contractors who worked on the stage design, installation and specifications for materials as well as the State and Fair Ground employees who failed to act as they should have to protect the people they were responsible for on the Fair grounds.

The State of Indiana has an indefensible position in terms of the caps on payments it has put into place. Thanks to the Indiana State Legislature, those injured and those who lost loved ones will probably never receive adequate compensation for their losses and injuries.  This is because no matter how many are injured or killed by State action or inaction IC 34-13-3-4 limits the government’s total responsibility to $5 million for the entire incident. It sounds like a lot until you realize the scope of the tragedy that occurred and all the lives that were taken or severely damaged.

In any state, in any situation, the $5 million cap is ridiculously inadequate to cover these types of catastrophic events. Unless personal injury attorneys find other sources of recovery, victims’ medical bills may not even be covered. Their loss, if not covered by any other source, could bankrupt them. Rodney Tucker, who heads the Hausmann-McNally Indianapolis office, is also looking into the constitutionality of the Indiana caps.

“This law limits its own responsibility in a cavalier fashion and states, ‘a governmental entity or an employee of a governmental entity acting within the scope of employment is not liable for punitive damages,’” Tucker says.

Did lawmakers lack the vision to anticipate a catastrophe as broad as this one at the Indiana State Fair or did they smugly set an unrealistic cap in an attempt to evade responsibility for the government’s actions and inactions?

The whole issue of caps on liability is just bad public policy. It is a creeping disease that seeks to control damages for the most seriously injured by fiat. States put a price on a human life and tragedy as easily as a piece of meat. The whole concept of caps supposes you can apply a one-size-fits-all rule to every situation. This tragedy may wake up victims and their families to the injustice of the caps. “Five million won’t begin to cover these losses and injuries, ” according to Tucker

In addition to the deaths, severe injuries reported include spinal injuries, head injuries, wounds and broken bones. While attorneys are searching to identify responsible parties, it would be appropriate for the Indiana legislature to review this law and change it to reflect reality.

“Of course, Hausmann-McNally will file lawsuits and we will pursue every possible lead that can achieve just compensation for our clients. That is what we do. It is just a shame that the state has chosen to make it harder on everyone.”

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Hausmann-McNally has law offices in Indianapolis and Merryville, Indiana, as well as in Illinois, Iowa, Ohio and Wisconsin.

If you were involved in the August 13 incident and do not yet have representation, or know someone who was there, please let them know our firm is already working hard for several clients. We are also interested in interviewing anyone who was a witness to the event.

Call Hausmann-McNally at 800-227-6699.

By John McNally, founding partner of Hausmann-McNally, S.C.

Wisconsin and Illinois state laws require carbon monoxide detection devices in every home. A few years ago, I would have said this is just another unnecessary, bureaucratic rule. But then, something happened.

In fall of 2000, around 4:45 a.m., my eight-year-old son Jack, came to our bedroom saying he had a headache and felt sick. My wife Susan and I took him into bed with us and went back to sleep. A few minutes later, daughter Carolyn came to our room saying she had a blistering headache. I gave her a drink of water and tucked her back into her bed. When I came back to our bedroom, Susan sat up in bed and said, “it is carbon monoxide!” This was the farthest thing from my mind as our home was, we believed, in good repair.

I went to the lower level where our daughter Laura was sleeping and woke her up. I noticed that our dog Max seemed to be sleeping. When I touched him, he just fell over.
Clearly, we had to get everyone out. Susan called the fire department and politely noted this was not an emergency, but that there was carbon monoxide in our home. I began opening up our windows and front door to bring fresh air into the house.

Minutes later, a whole army of fire fighters and emergency vehicles appeared. They gave everyone in the family oxygen, including the dog who luckily lived with us many more years.
After everyone got out and after the house had been aired out for five minutes or more, the firemen checked the air quality and noted the air in the house contained FOUR TIMES THE LETHAL LIMIT of carbon monoxide. We were told all five of us were 45 minutes away from being dead.

Carbon monoxide (CO) is the leading cause of accidental poisoning deaths in America. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CO poisoning causes more than 400 deaths and 20,000 hospital visits in the U.S. annually. It is often called the “silent killer.”

How easy it would have been to sleep on, to succumb to the poison gas which is odorless, colorless and non-irritating. Carbon monoxide is a by-product of fossil-fuel combustion. An auxiliary heater in our home had gotten plugged up with leaves. Because there was no ventilation, the heat built up and burned out the insides of the heater, causing massive amounts of CO to escape into our home.

The McNally family—minus the two daughters who were safe at the University of Wisconsin in Madison– spent the greater part of the next day at St. Luke’s Hospital, having their blood levels checked for CO. The levels were a tiny fraction below the CO level that would have indicated the need for treatment in a hypobaric chamber.

The result of this experience is the genuine gratitude I have for the fortunate circumstances that alerted us to the danger. As a result, we now have a carbon monoxide monitor hard-wired into our home. It is now state law in Wisconsin and Illinois and in a growing number of municipalities. CO alarms can be purchased rather inexpensively at hardware stores and big box stores like Home Depot and Loews. You can also have them hard-wired to connect with the fire department and/or a monitoring station that will respond if you do not answer their call. Based on what we experienced, we feel it is a good investment.

You don’t forget incidents like this.

Luckily, our story had a happy ending. That is not the case for everyone. CO detectors mandated by the state of Wisconsin, Illinois and many other states and municipalities are low-cost insurance that could save you and your family from a tragic ending.

Facts about Carbon Monoxide:

• The Milwaukee Fire Department responded to 164 confirmed incidents of elevated levels of carbon monoxide in 2010, according to department data.
• In 2009, the latest year for which such statistics are available, hospital emergency rooms in Wisconsin treated 480 patients for CO poisoning, according to the state health department.
• According to data from by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission released in September 2009, between 2004 and 2006, carbon monoxide poisoning deaths in the United States resulting from heating systems and gas water heaters averaged 54 a year.

Laws governing the installation of Carbon monoxide alarms include:

• Wisconsin requires that the owner of a residential dwelling install a functional carbon monoxide detector in the basement of the dwelling and on each floor level except the attic, garage, or storage area of each dwelling unit. Prohibits tampering with these detectors.
• Illinois requires that every dwelling unit shall be equipped with at least one approved carbon monoxide alarm in an operating condition within 15 feet of every room used for sleeping purposes. Every structure that contains more than one dwelling unit shall contain at least one approved carbon monoxide alarm in operating condition within 15 feet of every room used for sleeping purposes.

Landlords have an obligation to keep their rental properties in a safe condition, including installing smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in the appropriate areas. Tenants should make sure these are installed in the dwellings and that they are in working order. If not, the tenant should notify the landlord in writing about the problem and expect that it be fixed in about five working days.

If you have been made ill by carbon monoxide in your rental property, please call our office so we can determine if you have a lawsuit relating to carbon monoxide poisoning. Call our offices at 800-227-6699 to discuss the carbon monoxide issue with one of our representatives. There is no cost or obligation for this visit.

The life of a young musician, Youantis Wright, took a bad turn five years ago when he was severely injured in a tavern shooting. He finally received justice in Milwaukee County Circuit Court on June 3 when his attorneys at Hausmann-McNally, S.C.—Charles Hausmann and Michael Donovan–won a $1.7 million verdict.

On November 28, 2005 Youantis Wright just happened to be in at Remedies Bar & Grill, 5666 N. Teutonia Ave., with friends celebrating the production of his first CD. At closing time, he noticed a fight in the parking lot and, because he knew some of the people involved, he tried to stop the argument. Unfortunately, he was in the path of assault weapon bullets fired by the tavern’s security guard, Decosta Edwards. One of bullets tore through Wright’s chest and went out his back, causing injuries which almost killed him.

After being taken to Froedert Memorial Hospital where he had to be resuscitated several times, Wright endured months of surgeries and medical treatments to repair the damaged areas in his chest and torso. On June 3, Judge Charles F. Kahn found that Decosta Edwards was negligent the night of November 19, 2005 and ordered $500,000 for Wright’s past and future pain and suffering, $230,000 for medical bills and $1 million in punitive damages. The judge found that the defendant intentionally disregarded the Wright’s rights.

The bar owner, Suzana Ristic-Crumble declared bankruptcy just as the case was going to trial, to avoid facing the consequences of this action. Hausmann and Donovan, say the case definitely sends the right message. “For one thing, Youantis Wright deserves justice for his injuries,” said Michael Donovan. “The man who shot him only served five days in prison for the shooting that almost cost him his life and Youantis was not satisfied that was adequate punishment.”

“We are absolutely convinced that the trouble that comes from area taverns has to be stopped,” says Charles Hausmann. “Badly managed taverns are a blight on many neighborhoods–the root of many drug, alcohol and violence problems. We are sending notice that tavern and other business owners can be hit in their pocketbooks as well as face criminal charges,” he added. The firm has several other pending civil lawsuits aimed at holding businesses accountable for violence at their premises.

The firm’s Website is www.hausmann-mcnally.com