While the City of Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»continues to deal with the aftermath of the riot-ruined Stanley Cup fan zone, it is also facing injury lawsuits over a cancelled outdoor concert during the 2010 Winter Olympics.
At least two people who hoped to see Alexisonfire perform Feb. 16, 2010 have sued the city and producer Live Nation Canada for injuries suffered when the David Lam Park crowd surged and the barrier broke. Nineteen people were injured at the free live site and nine sent to hospital.
Vanessa Hannusch of Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»claims unspecified injuries have caused pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of earnings, past, present and prospective, loss of income-earning capacity and loss of opportunity to earn income.
Hannuschs lawsuit alleges the city and Live Nation exposed her to unreasonable danger, failed to supervise people on-site and failed to inspect and maintain the premises, including the barrier.
The plaintiff will be more susceptible to future injury and degenerative changes because of her injuries, said the April 29 statement of claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court.
The plaintiffs injuries were caused solely as a result of the negligence and breaches of the defendants, their servants, agents or employees.
City hall and Live Nation denied the allegations in a joint statement of defence filed June 15.
These defendants took all reasonable care of the premises... by inspecting and maintaining the premises in a reasonable and proper manner and the condition of the premises did not cause or contribute to the plaintiffs injury, loss, damage or expense, as alleged or at all, said the defence filing. The failure of the fencing... was caused by a latent defect not identifiable upon visual inspection.
The city and Live Nation claimed Hannuschs suffering was attributable to congenital defects, pre-existing condition or previous and/or subsequent incidents involving the plaintiff.
The father of Port Coquitlam teenager Jasmeen Khera sued the city and Live Nation on her behalf March 30, claiming she was trampled in the melee and skin was ripped off her lower right leg. The Kheras lawyer Usman Ghani told the Courier that Jasmeen Khera is scheduled to undergo another surgery in October.
Documents obtained under Freedom of Information show city hall acknowledged problems at the live site, but did not appear to anticipate a barrier collapse.
Minutes of the citys Olympic operations committee meetings show officials did not know the maximum capacity of the live site, which was branded LiveCity Yaletown, until accepting an experts advice of 9,000 on Feb. 18, 2010.
When senior city officials, including city manager Penny Ballem, met on the morning of Feb. 16, 2010 at E-Comm, fire chief John McKearney conceded that the emergency exits were locked and staff did not know location of key.
Prince Georges Kris Foot, a security guard hired to work the event by Sensor Protection Group, suffered knee, hip and lower spine injuries. He received a letter from Mayor Gregor Robertson inviting him to the Paralympics, but city hall referred him to WorkSafeBC for compensation.
They didn't have enough security to monitor every foot of the fence, Foot said in an interview. They'd pop over, squeeze into the crowd.
