The Rhode Island television news outlet whose cameraman was filming inside The Station nightclub when a fire killed 100 people has reached a tentative $30 million settlement with families and survivors, the biggest civil settlement stemming from the 2003 tragedy so far, according to two sources familiar with the case.
The images recorded by cameraman Brian Butler provided haunting evidence of the fire's ignition by a pyrotechnics display during a performance of the band Great White and the ensuing panic. His footage has also been used extensively by criminal investigators and civil litigants to build cases.
Butler was, ironically, filming a segment about nightclub safety for station WPRI-TV, whose reporter, Jeffrey Derderian, was a co-owner of The Station nightclub, when the fire broke out. In a federal lawsuit, Butler was accused of blocking an exit while filming, making it difficult for patrons to flee, an allegation that Butler's lawyer has previously and strenuously denied.
The $30 million settlement tentatively reached in mediation last week involves plaintiffs, LIN-TV (the Providence-based owner of the TV station), WPRI-TV, and Butler. According to the two sources, the settlement was propelled as much by a wrinkle in Rhode Island law as it was by any admission of wrongdoing. In Rhode Island, an insurer who rejects a written settlement demand can be forced to pay a judgment handed down by a jury later, even if that judgment is greater than total insurance coverage.
It is the largest settlement so far in the massive civil case pending in US District Court in Providence, which has hundreds of plaintiffs and more than 50 defendants. Last year, several companies settled claims worth a combined $18.5 million. Dozens of defendants remain, including Derderian and his brother, Michael, who co-owned the club; Anheuser-Busch Inc., which sold beer at the concert; and
Among other defendants remaining are the state of Rhode Island, the Town of West Warwick, members of Great White, and various manufacturers of foam insulation that fueled the fire.
The latest settlement was mediated by Paul Finn of Commonwealth Mediation, who decided two years ago how much approximately 550 victims of sexual abuse by priests would receive from the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs argued that Butler caused the death of an undetermined number of people by standing in a doorway and filming the chaos.
"Rather than leaving the building, or assisting patrons of The Station to escape," says the suit, "Butler stood within the building, directly in an egress route, and filmed distressed patrons trying to leave the nightclub. Butler's actions directly impeded the exit of patrons and contributed to the slowdown, backup, and additional logjam for those attempting to leave through the main exit."
At last week's session, Butler insisted he did not block anyone's escape and filmed only briefly as he was leaving the club, the two sources said. After Butler first spotted the flames, he kept his camera running as he exited the club. Plaintiffs charge that he paused at the door for 10 to 15 seconds, an allegation that was in dispute, one source said.
Butler's lawyer, Charles "Chip" Babcock, could not be reached for comment. But he insisted when Butler was added to the lawsuit in August 2004 that Butler did nothing wrong, saying that "Brian Butler saved lives that night." He also implied that Butler was sued because his employer had vast resources that could be tapped by the plaintiffs.
Several insurance companies will be paying for the settlement, according to the two sources. The plaintiffs had originally demanded $60 million, nearly all of the available insurance, they said.
The agreement still must be signed off by several parties and approved by the judge in the case, US District Court Judge Ronald Lagueux.
In November, Lagueux appointed Francis McGovern of Duke University School of Law to devise a system to distribute settlement proceeds.
The Feb. 20, 2003, fire in the West Warwick club, which took 33 Massachusetts lives among the 100 dead and injured more than 200, was the fourth deadliest fire in US history.
Andrew Horowitz - a professor at Roger Williams University School of Law in Bristol, R.I. - said it is unclear whether the settlement might spur other defendants to resolve claims as well.
"Each defendant has to think about whether the massive expenditure involved in defending himself or herself in this kind of case and the massive exposure that comes with actually having a trial is justified by the evidence that ties the defendant to the case," he said.
There is great incentive on both sides to settle, he said. "That's true in any case, but even more true in this kind of case, where the trial would be long and extremely painful. That gives real incentive to save a lot of money in litigation costs and a lot of risk."
Butler was filming in the club for WPRI as a follow-up story about nightclub safety after a fire just weeks earlier in Chicago, where 21 were crushed to death.
There are no hard and fast rules about when a reporter or photographer's duty to get the story must give way to their obligation to help others, specialists say.
Robert Steele of the Poynter Institute media think tank, while not commenting on the Station case, said there are circumstances when a journalist has an ethical duty to help people in peril.
"If the danger is profound, imminent, and there is something the journalist can do that can make a difference, then I would say there is a moral obligation to act," he said.
Jonathan Saltzman of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
