Rhode Island Landmark Legal Settlements
Station Night Club fire lawsuit settled for $176 million
In 2010 a $176 million lawsuit settlement stemming from the infamous nightclub fire in Rhode Island in 2003 was reached. The Station Night Club fire in West Warwick killed 100 people, making it the fourth deadliest nightclub fire in American history.
The settlement will be divvied up among survivors of the fire who were severely injured and the children who lost their parents in the fire. A trust fund will be set up to hold funds for more than 300 people affected by the fire.
Defendants in the case include the club's owners, foam manufacturers, Anheuser-Busch, Clear Channel Broadcasting and the town of West Warwick.
Criminal charges were brought in 2006 against the club owners and the tour manager for Great White, the band playing at the time of the fire. They all pleaded no contest to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter.
18 R.I. children settle lawsuits over lead paint
Eighteen Rhode Island children poisoned by lead paint settled lawsuits against their former landlords in 2010.
The children, who were exposed at a young age to lead paint in their Providence and Pawtucket homes, suffered health problems involving behavior, speech and motor functions. The terms of the settlement were confidential.
The state Supreme Court had overturned a landmark 2006 jury verdict that could have forced three former lead paint companies to spend billions to clean hundreds of thousands of contaminated properties.
The U.S. banned lead paint from residential use in 1978, but it remains prevalent in states like Rhode Island that have older housing.
Lawyers for the state have said tens of thousands of children have suffered lead poisoning in the last two decades.
Priest sex abuse settlement
In 2002 the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence reached a $13.5 million settlement in 36 sexual abuse lawsuits, ending a decade-long legal battle over misconduct by 11 priests and a nun.
The settlement came two months after a Superior Court judge ordered the diocese to open its files and show what it knew and did about abusive priests.
The Providence settlement was one of a number that year involving clergy sex abuse. The Los Angeles Archdiocese paid $5.2 million to one plaintiff last year, the Tucson diocese paid $14 million to 16 victims in January, and the Jesuit order paid $7.5 million to two alleged victims earlier this month.
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