Partner of woman killed in Indiana stage collapse files suit

• Reprints

Updated: November 11, 2011 2:59PM

A Chicago woman wants to recover damages on behalf of her same-sex partner who died in the Indiana State Fair stage collapse on Aug. 13.

Christina Santiago was one of seven people killed when a wind gust collapsed the stage’s rigging and lighting system onto the crowd. Her partner, Alisha Brennon, suffered substantial injuries that have required her use of a wheelchair.

“I’m still here and it doesn’t make any sense to me,” Brennon said.

Attorney Kenneth Allen filed two lawsuits in Marion County Superior Court on Monday seeking to force Indiana to recognize the right of a same-sex partner to recover damages. In June, Brennon and Santiago had a ceremony to recognize their civil union in Chicago. Indiana doesn’t allow or recognize civil unions or same-sex marriage.

Allen characterized the fight as the last frontier of equal protection.

“It’s got to change,” Allen said. “You must be treated equally by the law, but Indiana treats gay and lesbian couples in a discriminatory fashion that needs to be changed.”

Allen previously filed suit in behalf of another lesbian couple. In that case, Beth Urschel, whose partner Tammy VanDam of Wanatah died in the collapse, filed a wrongful death suit on Aug. 19. Urschel and VanDam were wed in Hawaii.

“Because Tammy was also survived by her daughter, the court might easily sidestep the equal rights issue by allowing Tammy’s child to recover damages instead of her spouse,” Allen said. “But in Christina’s case, she had no children and the issue of equal protection under the laws must be confronted head-on.”

Allen also filed a class-action complaint in federal court, which challenges the Indiana’s tort claim law.

The suit alleges that Indiana’s tort claims law is not fair to victims who want their claims to be considered in court. The state has a pool of $5 million set aside to compensate victims from an accident, regardless of the number of victims.

“And the scheme that Indiana has proposed — $35,000 per death — is not only insulting but ridiculous,” Allen said. “It’s throwing a bunch of crumbs to a flock of pigeons, and the victims aren’t pigeons. This was a tragedy waiting to happen. The state took reckless risks with the lives and safety of these people.”

Attorney General Greg Zoeller, one of the defendants in Allen’s suits, said that victims and their family members must file a State Fair tort claim by Nov. 1 to seek a portion of the $5 million.

“The State’s obligation to its citizens is different from that of a private insurance company,” Zoeller said in a statement. “We will not wait for litigation in order to move forward in providing compensation to victims. That’s why the State has brought in nationally-respected victim compensation expert Kenneth Feinberg to assist us in distributing the available $5 million fairly and equitably to victims. The Attorney General’s Office will defend the State from this lawsuit like the others; but we generally believe it will up to the legislature to decide whether to rewrite the laws concerning liability and beneficiaries, and up to the courts to decide how to interpret those laws.”