A class-action lawsuit filed against NIPSCO claiming negligence over the utility’s vegetation management plan has been amended with additional plaintiffs, including a candidate for Porter County Council.
The lawsuit, filed Friday by Kenneth J. Allen’s law firm in the wake of Aug. 11 storms that caused heavy damage throughout the region, was amended Monday. The original lawsuit, which named Margaret Shragal, 77, as the lead plaintiff, was dismissed after the amended one was filed.
Allen said in a Tuesday email to the Post-Tribune that since one of the attorneys involved in the case, Otto Shragal, is Margaret Shragal’s son, it seemed best to substitute another lead plaintiff.
Jack Tipold, a Democrat running for the District 3 seat on the county council, is now the lead plaintiff. The total number of plaintiffs, including Tipold and Shragal, is up to 17.
Tipold declined to comment on joining the suit but, according to the complaint, he was scheduled for oral surgery on Aug. 11, and the power outage “forced the termination of his procedure and his discharge without adequate pain control.”
That, according to the suit, resulted in a delay in Tipold’s post-operative care, “and he suffered unnecessary and protracted physical and emotional pain.” The suit also notes that Tipold ” suffered economic loss in the form of perishable household goods as the power outage continued.”
Shragal, according to the original complaint, alleged that the power outage meant delaying surgery for a fractured hip, scheduled for the day of the storms, which caused her “unnecessary and protracted pain and suffering.”
Northern Indiana Public Service Company didn’t file a response to Shragal’s suit before it was dismissed and has yet to file one for the amended complaint, according to an online court docket, but issued the following statement after the first lawsuit was filed:
“NIPSCO is aware of the lawsuit filed related to the recent weather events and power outages,” a spokesperson for the utility said in an email to the Post-Tribune. “Safety and reliability are fundamental to how we operate. Our immediate focus remains on restoring service safely and as quickly as possible to customers impacted by this week’s weather events. We will address the specific allegations through the appropriate legal process.”
Allen said during a Friday news conference at his Chesterton office — which was operating on a generator because of the power outages and lacked air conditioning — that every utility, including NIPSCO, has a vegetation management program, “but instead of a vegetation management program, all NIPSCO has done is put out fires.”
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Allen said then that the class-action lawsuit, which he expected to enjoin more than 100,000 people, was not in any way about the utility’s union workers, who are out restoring power, but about how much of what happened could have been prevented.
“We intend to hold NIPSCO accountable for its negligence,” he said Friday, adding that it wasn’t just for the Aug. 11 storms, but for several rounds of severe weather that have battered the region — and the power grid — since the spring.
Tipold and the other plaintiffs are requesting a jury trial and compensatory and punitive damages, according to the lawsuit.