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Hagerman Construction, Inc. v. Copeland | 697 N.E.2d 948 (1998)

Simply put, industry custom and practice refers to the way things are usually done within the relevant industry. The Indiana Court of Appeals considered whether evidence of custom and practice in the construction industry was admissible to help the jury decide whether a general contractor was negligent in the nineteen ninety-eight case of Hagerman Construction versus Copeland.

In nineteen ninety, Ball State University hired Hagerman Construction to act as the general contractor for the construction of a new basketball arena. One day during construction, Anthony Copeland, an experienced worker employed by one of Hagerman’s subcontractors, fell forty-five feet to his death through an uncovered opening in precast concrete.

Anthony’s wife Theresa sued Hagerman in her capacity as administrator of Anthony’s estate, seeking damages for his wrongful, negligent death in Indiana state court. During trial, Theresa produced two expert witnesses who testified about construction-industry custom and practice regarding the covering of openings. Theresa also produced three construction workers who testified about other projects and reported that general contractors on those projects usually covered any openings. Following a multi-million-dollar jury verdict for Theresa, Hagerman appealed to the Indiana Court of Appeals. Hagerman maintained that the trial court erred by admitting the testimony because it was irrelevant and unfairly prejudicial.

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