Eight Acrobats Are Paid $52.5 Million After Suffering Life-Altering Injuries When Rigging Suspending Them by Their Hair Plummeted to the Floor During Circus Act in Rhode Island - CircusTalk

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Eight Acrobats Are Paid $52.5 Million After Suffering Life-Altering Injuries When Rigging Suspending Them by Their Hair Plummeted to the Floor During Circus Act in Rhode Island

Eight acrobats severely injured when the rigging suspending them by their hair plummeted to the floor during a circus performance in Rhode Island in 2014 have reached a $52.5 million settlement with the ownership and management of the arena where the circus was held, their lawyer confirmed Monday.

‘It’s a great result, it’s the right result and it’s a just result,’ Zachary Mandell, an attorney for the eight women, said of the settlement, first reported by The Providence Journal.

A metal clip that held the acrobats 20 feet above the floor of the Dunkin’ Donuts Center snapped during the May 2014 performance, causing the women to suffer broken bones and spinal injuries. A ninth worker on the ground was also hurt.

The accident was witnessed by an audience of about 3,900, many of them children.

Some of the women still suffer from ‘life-altering’ injuries, according to Mandell, who said he could not get into specifics because of medical privacy laws.

‘These clients will now be able to have meaningful recoveries with the assistance of this settlement,’ he said.

The women in 2016 sued the Rhode Island Convention Center Authority, which owns the arena, and SMG, which manages it. Sean Brousseau, listed as an attorney for both entities, said Monday he could neither confirm nor deny a settlement.

The settlement will be paid by insurers, Mandell said.

Cellphone footage captured by a member of the audience shows a curtain fall to reveal a platform from which the performers were suspended, then suddenly the platform crashes to the ground while a loud gasp of horror can be heard from the audience.

The accident was witnessed by an audience of about 3,900, many of them children.

Some of the women still suffer from ‘life-altering’ injuries, according to Mandell, who said he could not get into specifics because of medical privacy laws.

‘These clients will now be able to have meaningful recoveries with the assistance of this settlement,’ he said.

The women in 2016 sued the Rhode Island Convention Center Authority, which owns the arena, and SMG, which manages it. Sean Brousseau, listed as an attorney for both entities, said Monday he could neither confirm nor deny a settlement…

Read the Full Article at Mail Online 

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