PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Eight acrobats injured when the rigging suspending them by the hair plummeted to the floor during a circus performance in Rhode Island in 2014 have reached a $52.5 million settlement with ownership and management of the arena where the circus was held.
Zachary Mandell, an attorney for the women, confirmed the settlement, first reported by The Providence Journal.
A metal clip that held the acrobats 20 feet above the floor of the Dunkin' Donuts Center snapped.
The women sued the Rhode Island Convention Center Authority, which owns the arena, and SMG, which manages it.
According to the Associated Press, SMG arranged with Feld Entertainment to bring the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus to Providence.
The Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) found that the clip was overloaded after the accident, so they cited Feld and imposed a fine, the AP reported.
An attorney for both entities said he could neither confirm nor deny a settlement.
Mandell added that insurers would pay the settlement.
