The tragic February 20, 2003 fire at the Station Nightclub in West Warwick, R.I., killed 96 people and injured more than 200. It was a stupid stunt: the band playing that night set off fireworks, setting fire to soundproofing foam. With the nightclub’s insurance maxed out and no one else to turn to for the expected $1 billion of liability, lawyers in the case sued anyone they could think of in their search for deep pockets to pick. One unlikely victim of the tactic was Clear Channel Communications, which owns a radio station in the area, on the basis that they helped promote the event. In February, Clear Channel announced a tentative $22 million settlement with survivors and the families of those killed. Rhode Island’s “joint and several liability” put Clear Channel on the hook; as long as lawyers could show just the tiniest involvement by the company, it ended up having to pay even though they had no part in the fire.<\/p>\n
Other deep pockets included TV station WPRI, which was ironically on the scene to do a story on the dangers of nightclubs when the fire broke out, which paid $30 million on the theory that their cameraman’s equipment blocked an exit. JBL Speakers paid $815,000 to settle a charge that its speakers had flammable foam in them; beer maker Anheuser-Busch ($5 million) and its local distributor ($16 million) because their beer was sold at the nightclub; Sealed Air Corp. paid $16 million, since its foam was used for soundproofing, even though the foam was not rated for such a purpose; the State of Rhode Island, $10 million, and the city where the fire occurred, $10 million, for who-knows-what reason; and Home Depot (amount unknown), where the foam was purchased. There were also criminal charges in the case; the band’s manager and the nightclub’s owners pleaded guilty and no-contest, respectively, to manslaughter charges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The tragic February 20, 2003 fire at the Station Nightclub in West Warwick, R.I., killed 96 people and injured more than 200. It was a stupid stunt: the band playing that night set off fireworks, setting fire to soundproofing foam. … Continue reading