Recent Litigation Cases

Steel Company Fights Enjoinment of Sale
Bose McKinney & Evans helped Steel Dynamics, Inc. secure the purchase of Qualitech Steel mill assets in Pittsboro, Indiana. After Steel Dynamics offered $45 million for the plant and other assets, Nucor Corporation attempted to enjoin the sale. The Hendricks County Superior Court found that Nucor had little chance of prevailing on its claims that it had the only valid purchase agreement, and ruled in favor of Steel Dynamics, denying an injunction to Nucor. Immediate appeals to the Indiana Court of Appeals and the Indiana Supreme Court followed, and Steel Dynamics was successful in all proceedings. Steel Dynamics closed the transaction with Qualitech late in 2002.

Insurance Client Pays $35,000 Less than Last Settlement Offer
Royal Insurance was sued by a plaintiff who experienced a debilitating injury in a car collision in 1998. Because the at-fault driver had only $100,000 in liability coverage, the plaintiff sued for $900,000 in underinsured motorist’s coverage from his own carrier, Royal. The plaintiff’s last demand before trial was $725,000, and the last offer before trial was $250,000. In a jury trial, the $215,000 verdict saved Bose McKinney & Evans’ client $510,000 from the opposing party’s last settlement demand, and Royal paid $35,000 less than the settlement offered before the trial.

Jury Decides in Favor of Client in ADA Case 
Bose McKinney & Evans won a major victory for Swifty Oil Company, Inc., in a federal jury trial. In a lawsuit alleging that an employee (who had since died) was discharged because of his poor health, the estate sued for $550,000, including lost wages and benefits, compensatory and punitive damages and legal fees. During the trial, Bose McKinney & Evans countered with evidence that Swifty Oil based its discharge decision on legitimate non-discriminatory grounds and promoted the employee in question even after he had a heart attack. The jury reached a verdict in favor of Swifty Oil, agreeing that the individual was justifiably terminated based on negligent handling of an embezzlement scandal in three gas stations he oversaw. 

$15.67 Million Judgment Reversed 
The Bose McKinney & Evans Appellate Group obtained a reversal by the Indiana Supreme Court of a $15.67 million judgment against Owens Corning Fiberglass Corporation in favor of an individual who may have worked with asbestos in the 1940s and 1950s. With the help of Bose McKinney & Evans attorneys, Owens Corning appealed, and eventually the case progressed to the Indiana Supreme Court, the first asbestos case to do so after a jury trial. The Supreme Court reversed the judgment, upholding Bose McKinney & Evans’ claim that the judgment did not properly reflect that the other companies the individual worked for had already made settlement payments to him, a fact withheld from the jury. This omission led to the misimpression that only Owens Corning asbestos could have caused injury.