Injured aerialists settle lawsuit in Providence circus accident

Eight women who were seriously hurt when an apparatus collapsed during a circus performance in Providence have reached a $52.5 million settlement.

Providence-based attorney, Zachary Mandell said the acrobats settled with the Rhode Island Convention Center Authority and SMG, which manages the Dunkin' Donuts Center, where the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus was performing in the spring of 2014.

"There were catastrophic, life altering injuries at issue and so this type of money, really will be able to help the clients live a better life, live a life that helps them with the needs they require, and there are many of those," explained Mandell.

Mandell said his team had co-council from Chicago on the case, which was filed in 2016.

"I think this was the right result, I think this was a great result and I think this was the just result," said Mandell.

The case took years to litigate, with many lawyers involved on both ends.

"There were some legal issues dealing with the fact that these plaintiffs were working for their employer at the time and in Rhode Island there are some bars to be able to recover from that employer and our claims were not against their employer, their employer was Feld Entertainment and we did not have any claims against them," said Mandell.

The women were hanging by their hair from rigging attached to a carabiner. The clip broke, sending the acrobats plummeting about 15 feet to the floor. All of them had serious injuries, including broken bones and back injuries.

SMG is suing Feld Entertainment, which owned the circus, for breaching the contract between the two companies, the Providence Journal reported.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined Feld the maximum $7,000 for safety violations.

One of the touring companies of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus performed its last shows in Providence in 2017 before Feld brought down the curtain on "The Greatest Show on Earth" for good.