INDIANAPOLIS – Court documents released Wednesday detail a chaotic decision-making process that was largely being controlled by country duo Sugarland’s representatives as a severe storm approached the Indiana State Fair last August.
High winds eventually toppled the stage rigging, killing seven and injuring dozens of others.
The Indiana Department of Labor on Wednesday cited three entities for workplace violations, including Mid-America Sound Corp. of Greenfield. The business owned and constructed the load-bearing roof.
Mid-America responded by releasing contracts showing the Indiana State Fair Commission knew the structure couldn’t withstand high winds.
Company officials also made public eight pages of a 100-plus page deposition of State Fair Executive Director Cindy Hoye taken as part of a civil lawsuit.
The Jan. 16 deposition provides the first in-depth understanding of the discussions going on that night about delaying or canceling the show.
Hoye said there was a meeting sometime between 8 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. in which she asked Eric Milby – from concert promoter Dave Lucas Entertainment – to talk to the band about the fair requesting a delay in the show.
Sugarland was set to go on at 8:45 p.m. for a 90-minute show.
Initially, the storm was supposed to hit about around 9:15 p.m. but it came earlier, knocking the rigging down at around 8:49 p.m.
Milby returned and told Hoye the band had concerns about a delay because it takes lead singer Jennifer Nettles 30 minutes to warm up. He also said the band needed to get to Iowa the next day to play the Iowa State Fair and did not want to delay.
“Would it be fair to say that you had requested that the show be delayed, but Sugarland had refused, through Mr. Milby, to delay the show?” the deposition said.
Hoye’s answer: “Correct.”
Milby was then asked to go back a second time about somewhere around 8:15 p.m. and ask again for a delay.
Hoye said she believes Milby offered to pay for extra stage hands in Iowa and suggested reducing the set time as encouragement for the band to accept a delay.
But the band wanted to play, according to the deposition.
Also after the second request, Hoye got pulled into a separate situation backstage related to “Sugarland’s production people” being upset there were so many state police officers backstage who were bringing people through the area who weren’t designated to be there.
Hoye stepped away from tracking the storm front and the discussion to delay the concert to deal with that situation.
Mid-America did not release the rest of the deposition.
Indiana Labor Commissioner Lori Torres said Wednesday the Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration looked into whether Sugarland should be cited and determined they did not have a responsibility with regards to workplace standards.
She did note, however, that is different from liability to the public at large.
Deputy Labor Commissioner Jeff Carter said Sugarland had the right in its contract with the State Fair Commission to refuse to go on, but did not believe they could override a decision to delay the show or evacuate the venue. He and Torres acknowledged different people had authority over different decisions that night on the stage.
An email sent to Sugarland’s tour manager seeking comment was not immediately answered Wednesday.
nkelly@jg.net
