Who's at fault when an outdoor stage collapses?

 

A:

Almost certainly the company the assembled the structure holds a substantial portion of the blame. Other liable parties might include suppliers of defective or worn out parts, event coordinators/managers who fail to warn of severe weather events, event managers and employees who fail to timely and efficiently evacuate the outdoor stage areas when needed, and employees who improperly assemble the outdoor stage structure. Local authorities that provide loose standards and lax inspections regarding outdoor stage areas might also share the blame.

Most reports of recent outdoor stage collapses that injured or killed event guests seem to try to blame the structural collapse on the weather. Where event managers or outdoor stage equipment providers and assemblers can successfully blame a structural collapse on "force majeur" or an "act of God" (like a weather event), human parties might escape financial liability for the victims' accident losses. We can understand the attempt to use force majeur as a way to escape culpability. But we don't condone it. If you've been injured in a structural collapse, you should not allow this attempt to shift the blame to the weather to succeed. Hold the liable parties accountable for their negligence.

Event organizers have a duty to take all reasonable precautions to ensure the safety of the guests that they have lured to an event. They should inspect outdoor stages and ensure that designs, equipment and assembly are suitable to withstand any reasonably likely influence. Moderate and severe summer storms present regular and predictable events all throughout the summer in the Midwest in the same way that heat and humidity present sadly regular and predictable summer burdens throughout most of Texas. Photos from the Indiana stage collapse show some design flaws in the outdoor stage that could (and did) cause problems even during a minor weather event. 5 people have already died, and many others were injured in a structural collapse because of these problems that you should ultimately attribute to negligence. 

Experienced attorneys for balcony and structural collapses. Call us if you need help now recovering fair financial compensation after being injured or losing a family member to a structural collapse accident.