Court Opinion

ID: 9505398
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-06 20:04:17.523089+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:04:25.587693
License: Public Domain

BOEHM, Justice,
dissenting
I respectfully dissent. I do not find any evidence supporting a finding of gross negligence on NIPSCO’s part. Taking the evidence most favorable to the verdict as recited by the majority, the most that can be said is that NIPSCO maintained the power to the pumping station after its operator requested that and began steps to turn off the power to the rest of the area. The power line to the pumping station was twenty feet in the air. I cannot see any basis to conclude that NIPSCO intentionally disregarded any duty to anyone. At the very most it was negligent, and even that seems a stretch, given the obvious value under these stressed circumstances of keeping the power to the pumps.