IU won a mold-infestation lawsuit March 17 regarding residents’ exposure to mold in Foster and McNutt residence halls and noise pollution from air filters that were installed in other dorms as precautionary measures for potential mold growth filed in the 2018-19 school year, according to the Indiana Court of Appeals opinion released Wednesday.
Related: [Mold lawsuit against the university granted class action status]
The university appealed the case after the trial court denied partial summary judgement and certified three plaintiff claims in March 2020, according to the court opinion.
One of the university’s arguments was that it had paid students one and a half times the needed expenses for injuries caused by mold exposure according to the Indiana Tort Claims Act, according to the court opinion. The act requires $5 million in compensation for a liability such as the one in this case, according to the court opinion. IU paid over $7.3 million in total to potentially affected students in McNutt and Foster.
Related: [Student seeks reimbursement for tuition, fees in lawsuit against IU]
“We hold that the University’s payments to Foster and McNutt residents exceeded its aggregate liability for the Plaintiffs’ tort claims under the ITCA and that the trial court erred in denying its motion for partial summary judgment on those claims,” Judge Terry Crone wrote in the opinion.
The panel’s decision was unanimous, according to a The Indiana Lawyer article.
