State’s high court to consider liability claim against Evansville church
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The Indiana Supreme Court has agreed to hear an Evansville church’s argument that it was not liable for a volunteer’s injuries because it was protected by a state law that generally holds churches harmless in certain situations when accidents occur on church property.
In April, the Indiana Court of Appeals rejected the argument and ruled that the protections apply only to church property “used primarily for worship services.”
The accident in which Gerard Kirsch says he was injured occurred in the summer of 2019 while he was building a shed on Calvary Temple Church property in Evansville that was to be used to store a church van.
Kirsch’s complaint, filed in Vanderburgh Superior Court, alleged that he fell while climbing a ladder, suffered a deep cut to his arm that required surgery and has permanent nerve damage in that arm. He alleged the church was negligent in the accident. At the time, he was a member of the church’s board of trustees.
The church sought summary judgment, which the trial court rejected and the appellate court affirmed.
“Here, in support of its summary judgment motion, Calvary did not designate evidence that the shed where Kirsch was injured was used primarily for worship services. Indeed, the evidence makes clear that it is otherwise,” Judge Paul Mathias wrote for the three-judge panel. “In any event, Calvary’s summary judgment motion turns solely on an interpretation of the statute that we reject.”
While the justices last week denied requests to hear 18 other cases, they did not agree on all of them.
Chief Justice Loretta Rush and Justice Derek Molter voted to grant the transfer of a case dealing with double jeopardy, but they were in the minority.
In a memorandum decision last June, the appellate court dismissed Thomas Wilson’s double jeopardy claim and affirmed the Hamilton Superior Court’s sentencing decision.
Rush and Justice Christopher Goff also voted to accept the case of a man challenging his operating a vehicle while intoxicated conviction and sentencing, but the court’s three other justices voted to reject the case.
The appellate court affirmed the Allen Superior Court in a memorandum decision published in August.
Lastly, Justice Geoffrey Slaughter and Molter voted to grant the petition in which 13 women sued a medical clinic due to a doctor’s allegedly improper conduct, but they were in the minority.
The 13 women claimed Dr. Akitto Ledda improperly accessed their medical records after he met or encountered them in social settings, online or at work. None of the women were his patients.
The appellate court declined to recognize a tort claim for intrusion into emotion solace in its June opinion.
The court did find the trial court erred by granting summary judgment to Deaconess on the plaintiffs’ claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress.