Here is a case that could describe many farmers and other businessmen retaining independent contractors. It is summer time and paint crews travel from farm to farm offering to paint grain bins or other outbuildings. Almost every farmer owning grain bins will have had this experience and many of us have hired the crews to perform painting tasks. Do you…
This past May, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled on a breach of a non-compete agreement case addressing whether a former employee’s covenant not to compete with his past employer was enforceable under Indiana law and determined the proper measure of damages for a breach of this agreement. Coffman, an employee of Olson & Co., an accounting firm (“Olson”), signed…
Recently, the Indiana Supreme Court decided that a business that loses customer traffic due to a State highway expansion project is not entitled to compensation.1 In State of Indiana v. Kimco of Evansville, Inc., the State took, by eminent domain, a strip of land in front of a shopping center to expand a state highway.2 As a result, southbound drivers…
On July 14, 2009, the Indiana Court of Appeals issued an opinion in a case affecting Indiana municipal law, Board of Commissioners of Hendricks County v. Town of Plainfield, addressing whether a town had proper standing to ask for declaratory judgment to validate their own ordinance. The Court also addressed whether a town may exercise storm water jurisdiction and whether…
This past May, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled on a municipal annexation case coming out of Madison County. The Indiana municipal law case dealt with whether a county board of commissioners had standing to file a complaint challenging acts of annexation by a town of land in a formerly unincorporated area of the county. In Indiana, the statutory framework…
The Indiana Court of Appeals recently reviewed the enforceability of a three-year, 50-mile radius non-compete agreement for a physician in Mercho-Roushdi-Shoemaker-Dilley Thoraco-Vascular Corporation v. Blatchford, 900 N.E.2d 786 (Ind. Ct. App. 2009). Indiana business lawyers and their clients will benefit from the clarification offered by the Court. The case is noteworthy because the court held the non-compete agreement to be…
The Indiana Court of Appeals has awarded unemployment compensation to an employee who violated a neutral attendance policy, making it clear in a new opinion that absences from work caused by a medical condition do not constitute “just cause” for termination of employment. As a result, an employee terminated because of such absences is likely to be entitled to unemployment…
The United States Consumer Products Safety Commission began enforcement on December 19, 2008 of the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act, 15 U.S.C. §8001, which creates a duty of care for all owners and operators of public swimming pools and spas that are fitted with submerged suction drain outlets known as main drains. The Act requires that all…
The United States Consumer Products Safety Commission began enforcement on December 19, 2008 of the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act, 15 U.S.C. §8001, which creates a duty of care for all owners and operators of public swimming pools and spas that are fitted with submerged suction drain outlets known as main drains. The Act requires that all…
On December 13, 2006, the Indiana Court of Appeals reviewed the statute of limitations applicable to claims of accountant malpractice. In so doing, it also considered whether the accountant’s “continuing representation” after the client’s financial harm became known should postpone commencement of the limitations period for a claim against the accountant. In this case the court upheld summary judgment in…