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Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company v. White9/25/2002
FOR PUBLICATION
OPINION - FOR PUBLICATION
Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company ("Hartford") appeals from the trial court's entry of judgment on a jury verdict in favor of each of two plaintiffs in consolidated wrongful death actions, Robert White, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Linda White, and Daniel Lee Erickson, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Joan Erickson. We affirm.
Issues
Hartford raises several issues for our review, which we consolidate and restate as follows:
1. Whether the trial court properly permitted a plaintiffs' witness to testify as an expert;
2. Whether the trial court properly denied Hartford's motion for judgment on the evidence;
3. Whether the trial court properly prohibited Hartford from advancing an argument regarding the plaintiffs' institution of a lawsuit against another entity in its closing argument;
4. Whether the trial court properly refused Hartford's tendered instructions; and
5. Whether the trial court properly entered judgment on the jury's verdict.
Facts and Procedural History
On March 4, 1993, a boiler at American Rubber Products Corporation exploded, and American Rubber employees Joan Erickson and Linda White were killed. Hartford, an insurance company that writes boiler and machinery casualty insurance, insured American Rubber. The subsequent investigation determined that in 1988, the boiler had been retrofitted with a replacement burner. A separate support pipe was required to adequately support the burner and relieve the stress on the attachment bolts from the weight of the burner. Sometime after the installation of the replacement burner and before the explosion, the support pipe was removed, and the weight of the burner caused it to tilt and improperly heat the elements of the boiler, ultimately resulting in the explosion.
Pursuant to Indiana law, a boiler such as the one used at American Rubber must be inspected and certified for operation each year. Ind. Code § 22-15-6-2; 680 I.A.C. 1-2-9(a)(1). Hartford is designated an "inspection agency" by statute as "an insurance company engaged in insuring and inspecting regulated boilers and pressure vessels in Indiana . . . ." Ind. Code § 22-15-6-4(a)(1). Hartford employee Michael Nasatka is a "special inspector" under the administrative rules of the Indiana Boiler and Pressure Vessel Rules Board which defined a special inspector as "an Inspector other than a State Inspector who is in the regular employ of the authorized inspection agency named on his inspector's commission." 680 IAC 1-1-2(6). In his capacity as a special inspector for Hartford, Nasatka inspected American Rubber's boiler on the two occasions it underwent a certificate inspection prior to the explosion. He last inspected the boiler, both internally and externally, on July 29, 1992, while it was shut down. Standard procedure was for Nasatka to send the completed inspection report to Hartford's offices in Detroit, and if there were no problems with the inspection, they would send a copy to the State, which would in turn invoice the inspected company for the inspection certificate fee. Following Nasatka's July 1992 inspection, and after American Rubber paid the required fee, the State issued an inspection certificate for the year to American Rubber.
Following the explosion in March 1993, White and Erickson each instituted actions for wrongful death against Hartford, which were consolidated for trial by jury. Hartford designated Power Plant Service, Inc., which sold and installed the new burner on the boiler, as a non-party defendant. Hartford
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