Indiana’s anti-Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP) statute protects a person’s actions “in furtherance of” his or her right of petition or free speech and “in connection with a public issue”; the statute is inapplicable to a doctor that reported suspected child abuse.
Civil
Cosgray v. French Lick Resort & Casino, No. 59A01-1710-CT-2512 ,__ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., May 9, 2018).
Hotel did not owe plaintiff a duty to protect her from a criminal attack by an unknown assailant on their premises.
State v. Neff, No. 18A02-1708-IF-1933, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., May 11, 2018).
An officeholder need not abandon each and every statutory duty before removal from office may be warranted. “[F]ailure, over a period of years, to perform a critical, official and mandatory duty for a clerk-treasurer falls squarely within the confines of Article VI Sections 7 and 8 of the Indiana Constitution and our legislature’s response via the Removal Statute.”
Estate of Staggs v. ADS Logistics Co., LLC, No. 64A03-1708-CT-1961, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., May 14, 2018).
Company that warehoused steel coil that became unsecured during travel killing other motorists had no duty to the motorists killed. It is unforeseeable that a warehousing entity’s conduct in warehousing the cargo or in loading the cargo onto another entity’s vehicle at the instruction of the other entity’s driver would result in harm to motorists.
In re J.R. & M.R., No. 80A02-1704-JC-806,__ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., April 17, 2018).
CHINS factfinding hearing must be completed within 60 days or the petition must be dismissed; if the petition is refiled, DCS must submit new evidence regarding conditions at the current time.