Posted on 03/12/2003 7:32:29 AM PST by Houmatt
Mar. 11--PROVIDENCE, R.I.--The family of a woman who died in the West Warwick, R.I., nightclub fire contends in a lawsuit that two large corporations are partly responsible, Anheuser-Busch and Clear Channel Communications.
The brewery sponsored the Feb. 20 concert at The Station nightclub, the suit said, and delivered "a batch of Budweiser" through a local distributor, so patrons "could have the freshest beer they were ever likely to have," a perk mentioned regularly by a disk jockey from WHJY who introduced the band Great White.
"A number of interns" from that radio station, owned by broadcasting giant Clear Channel, distributed WHJY promotional items to the crowd at The Station, according to the suit filed yesterday in Providence Superior Court.
The lawsuit was the second filed on behalf of victims' families and the first to name major corporations that have the financial assets to help cover what legal specialists say could be $1 billion in damage claims.
Filing suit against companies with deep pockets could increase the potential for collecting money, specialists say.
The owners of the nightclub, Jeffrey and Michael Derderian, and other defendants named in this suit and another filed last week are not expected to have adequate assets to cover the claims.
One option being considered by state political leaders is forming a special fund to pay victims and families.
Yesterday's lawsuit, filed on behalf of the 6-year-old daughter of a Swansea woman who suffocated under a pile of bodies, alleges that 18 individuals or corporations shared responsibility.
WHJY advertised the Great White concert in 15 commercials, according to the radio station's general manager, and its popular disk jockey Michael Gonsalves introduced the band moments before pyrotechnics set off by the group ignited a fire in the roadside club. Gonsalves was among 99 people killed.
By participating in the show, Anheuser-Busch and WHJY both "stood to gain monetarily and also through increased customer awareness of their products," said Stefanie DiMaio Larivee, the lawyer for the family of Lisa Kelly, 27 and a single mother of a 6-year-old girl, Zoe Jean Kingsley.
"They were promoters and sponsors of the event," Larivee said.
Clear Channel -- the nation's largest operator of radio stations, with more than 1,200 stations -- said it bore no responsibility for the tragedy that took the lives of Gonsalves and of the 20-year-old son of WHJY talk show host David Kane.
A company spokeswoman said WHJY merely ran ads for the Great White show on the radio station.
"We are deeply saddened that plaintiffs' lawyers are looking for deep pockets to pick, rather than allowing people the requisite time to grieve for those whom we have lost," said Lisa Dollinger, senior vice president of marketing and communications for the San Antonio-based media company
Last week, WHJY's general manager, Bud Paras, said the station ran 15 half-minute commercials advertising the Great White show at a cost of about $700 to the nightclub.
Stephen K. Lambright, the group vice president and general counsel for Anheuser-Busch, issued a statement saying the brewer did not sponsor or promote Great White's appearance at the club and "should not have been named in this lawsuit."
The Cranston-based beer distributor, McLaughlin & Moran, was an "independent business that has the right to use our beer brand name in its advertising," Lambright said.
Charles Borkoski, the vice president of marketing for McLaughlin & Moran, said he had not seen the lawsuit and declined to comment.
Bruce Kogan -- professor and interim dean of the law school at Roger Williams University in Bristol, R.I. -- said yesterday that it will be harder to hold Anheuser-Busch and Clear Channel responsible for the fire than parties with a more direct role in the show, such as the co-owners of the club, Jeffrey and Michael Derderian, and the band.
"It sounds like a reach, but it doesn't sound nuts," he said, adding that a jury might be persuaded that all the parties helped put on the concert.
"It isn't surprising that zealous plaintiffs' lawyers would try to figure out if there's a plausible basis on which to add defendants who might have substantially more resources that may become a source for compensation, given the gravity of the injuries," Kogan said.
According to the lawsuit, Lisa Kelly, a yoga teacher who loved heavy metal music, tried to flee the nightclub after the pyrotechnics ignited walls covered with highly flammable foam insulation behind and above the stage.
When the lights went out and the crowd panicked, she was knocked down, and other patrons fell on top of her, the lawsuit said. Kelly suffered no obvious burns, the suit said, but "suffocated while under a pile of other victims."
The lawsuit named other corporations, including Luna Tech Inc., an Alabama manufacturer of the pyrotechnics used by Great White, and American Foam Corp., a Johnston, R.I., company that supplied the foam used as soundproofing.
Larivee said she expects to add the Town of West Warwick as a defendant after filing a 40-day notice of claim with the town.
A statewide grand jury is investigating the fire, but apparently has recessed until March 26, according to a lawyer for one of the band members.
Meanwhile, West Warwick officials said they anticipated receiving a subpoena from Attorney General Patrick Lynch requiring them to turn over records to the grand jury.
Town Manager Wolfgang Bauer refused yesterday to release occupancy records for the club to the Globe, despite the end of the 10-day waiting period under Rhode Island's open records law, saying they were part of the state's investigation.
"We've been in contact with the attorney general's office, and we're expecting a subpoena," he said.
Bauer has said that the town records contain contradictory information regarding the permitted capacity of the club, a crucial point for investigators, who have said The Station nightclub may have lacked the appropriate number of fire exits.
This is the nanny state where all ills suffered by citizens should be fixed by the tax payers.
They have to fight, because if they lose one, they'll lose them all.
No wait, howabout if they sue the Native Americans who used to own the land. If they'd kept possession the land would never have been sold and those people wouldn't have died. And the indians are rich! They own casinos!
It says here that Kelly died because of other people falling on top of her. To be consistent, the estates of those other patrons should be sued, or at least their families. After all, they were the ones rushing for the doors.
These lawsuits are like winning the lottery. Every one wants to get rich off of someone else. The lawyers promote it because they get 30% plus of the settlement. The Democrats support it because the lawyers take some of that 30% and contribute to the party.
Is this a great country or what?
Red
Yes I understand that concept. But I disagree with your statement.
You need to understand they will go after the juries emotions.
Just watch, while defense repeats "Greedy lawyers" over and over, the plaintiff's will up there displaying enlarged photographs of brutally burned bodies.
I am not taking sides here, I am just telling you what's going to occur in the court room .
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