Janeen Beth Urschel who lost her partner of 10 years when she was killed in a stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair, filed one of the first lawsuits after the tragedy.
Tammy VanDam was one of six people who died while waiting for a Sugarland concert. Others included Christina Santiago, an LGBT health activist who headed the Lesbian Community Cancer Project at Chicago’s Howard Brown Health Center. Her partner, Alisha Brennon, was severely injured in the collapse.
RadarOnline reports that Urschel is seeking $50 million for VanDam’s estate and $10 million plus punitive damages for Urschel. Lawyer Kenneth J. Allen told RadarOnline that he also plans to “challenge Indiana law’s lack of recognition of a same-sex partner as a beneficiary under its wrongful-death law, and seek damages from the state for the victim’s 17-year-old daughter.”
