Riley Bennett Egloff Magazine July Magazine | Page 10

Indiana Spoliation Law: Experts
Can be Critical and Good Faith May
Not be Enough
T
he Indiana Court of Appeals issued a decision last month that
provides a good overview of spoliation claims under Indiana law,
and which confirms the need for all parties and their insurers to
be diligent to preserve evidence that could be relevant to potential
litigation. This ruling affirms prior decisions that those who hold
property that could become relevant evidence in litigation must be
very careful to preserve all of the relevant evidence.
By: Raymond T. Seach, RBE Attorney
Originally Published May 2018
This latest case pertained to a fire that occurred at Aqua Environmental
Container Corp.’s (“Aqua”) warehouse in Wolcott, Indiana. Aqua
sued Northern Indiana Public Service Company (“NIPSCO”) and
claimed the fire occurred because NIPSCO had negligently supplied
electrical power to the Wolcott area, including Aqua’s warehouse,
resulting in severe power fluctuations that caused a fire in the
area of the ceiling-mounted furnace of Aqua’s warehouse. During
discovery, it was determined that Aqua had preserved some, but
not all of the ceiling mounted furnace equipment, and that the part
Aqua had failed to preserve was the most relevant part.
NIPSCO then filed a Motion for Default Judgment against Aqua
for Spoliation of Evidence. The trial court denied the Motion, and
NIPSCO appealed the denial. The Court of Appeals upheld the denial
of the Motion for Default, but concluded that Aqua had negligently
destroyed or failed to save, and thus spoliated, evidence relevant to
the lawsuit. The Court of Appeals then remanded the case to the
trial court to determine the appropriate remedy, if any, for Aqua’s
negligent spoliation of evidence.

NIPSCO’s Motion for Default was premised, in large part, on the
following facts:
10
Riley Bennett Egloff LLP - April 2018