Indiana Mesothelioma Lawyer and Legal Information

In general, the Indiana courts and Indiana statutes are victim-friendly when it comes to asbestos-related injuries. The courts in Indiana have also ruled in favor of plaintiffs in "bystander" cases, where spouses have become ill after suffering "secondhand asbestos exposure". Indiana courts also allow similar cases to be consolidated into one case, and for lawsuits to be continued by spouses or estates of plaintiffs in the case of death before a case is finished.

The Indiana courts have also held that there must be a direct causal relationship between the defendant and the asbestos exposure in order for a case to go forward. For instance, in a 2004 case (Roberts v. PSI Energy), the Indiana court agreed that a property owner or other principal should not be held liable if the actions of independent contractors employed by them cause an injury to another, including to an employee of the independent contractor. In that case, the plaintiff worked for ACandS, an independent contractor hired by PSI Energy to install and maintain asbestos-containing insulation. The plaintiff brought suit against both PSI Energy and ACandS, and PSI Energy was originally found to be 13% at fault in causing the plaintiff's injury. The Indiana Appellate Court found that under Indiana law, an employee of an independent contractor can not hold the company that hires the independent contractor liable for injuries caused by his employer's injuries.

Determination of Liability

As discussed above, the Indiana courts have specific statutes applying to the determination and assignment of liability. While the court held in the Roberts case that PSI Energy could not be held liable for damages caused by the negligence of its contractor, ACandS, there are certain cases in which a property owner can be held responsible for damages caused by the independent contractor that they hire. The laws governing determination of liability are complex and open to interpretation by the courts. An experienced Indiana mesothelioma lawyer with a knowledge of Indiana case law and other mesothelioma and asbestos related litigation can best determine the appropriate defendants in an asbestos injury lawsuit.

In general, the Indiana courts rely on a modified comparative negligence - 51% rule. Under a modified comparative negligence 51% rule, a plaintiff may recover damages even if they are partly at fault in causing their own injury as long as they are judged to be 50% or less at fault. If the court judges that they are 51% or more at fault, they recover nothing. If the plaintiff is judge to be 50% or less at fault, any award will be reduced proportionate to the percentage of fault. Thus, if the jury decides that the plaintiff was 25% at fault in their injury and has determined that damages in the case amount to $100,000, the plaintiff will be awarded $75,000.

The Indiana courts also apply a pure several liability rule to all awards in cases with multiple defendants. Under a pure several liability, each defendant is liable for a portion of the damages proportionate to their share of the fault. Thus in a case where the jury has determined damages of $100,000 in total against three defendants, each defendant will also be assigned a percentage of the blame and only be responsible for the percentage of the award equal to their percentage of the fault.

Bystander Law

Indiana law specifically includes under the definition of consumer (who is allowed to bring a product liability suit) "Any bystander injured by the product who would reasonably be expected to be in the vicinity of the product during its reasonably expected use". In three separate cases, the Indiana courts have found that family members of those who used asbestos-containing products at work have legal standing as bystanders.

On May 17, 2002, the Indiana Supreme Court reversed the dismissal of a mesothelioma lawsuit that hinged on the definition of bystander, stating that "(T)he normal, expected use of asbestos products entails contact with its migrating and potentially harmful residue." (Stegemoller v. ACandS, Camplin v. ACandS)

In a case decided on the same day, the Indiana Supreme Court referenced their own decision, and extended their ruling to state that the spouse of a bystander who is damaged by a product has the right to sue for loss of services and loss of consortium under a wrongful death action. (Martin v. ACandS)

Indiana Asbestos Litigation - Verdicts and Cases

2003 Bower v. ACandS: A 56 year old contractor who developed mesothelioma after working with asbestos-containing materials was awarded $3 million in compensatory damages and $12 million in punitive damages

2008 - Baroni v. Taylored Industries: An Indiana County jury awarded $226,000 to the family of a man who died of mesothelioma in 2005. The suit originally included numerous defendants, all of whom reached settlements with the family before the case came to trial.

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