INDIANAPOLIS — In the last five years, the City of Indianapolis spent $5.7 million to settle issues involving the Department of Public Works. 13 Investigates found the city sometimes used a legal strategy that makes fighting for a claim more time-consuming and costly.
13 Investigates found the majority of claims are settled for less than a few thousand dollars. However, the city often requested a jury when people filed a lawsuit in small claims court.
"They shouldn't force people who have no idea how to do this to go through all of that hassle,” Lee Christie said.
Christie received one of the 196 settlement agreements that 13 Investigates reviewed. The city approved them between July 1, 2018, and July 1, 2023.
Big picture
Those agreements totaled just over $5.5 million; however, the Office of Corporation Council reported DPW settlements totaled more than $5.7 million during that five-year time. During a previous report about police settlements, the city said it maintained records a variety of ways, which makes it difficult to calculate the exact amount spent on settlements.
The city reports it budgeted $105,000 a year for settlements up until 2022, when it budgeted $200,000.
In 2021, the city settled its biggest payout in the five years of records 13 Investigates reviewed — $2.1 million.
An Indianapolis family sued after a crash at the intersection of Kessler and Binford boulevards, claiming the city failed to fix broken traffic lights at the busy intersection for hours and that contributed to the crash.
On the night of April 2, 2016, court documents say a car smashed into the vehicle of a woman driving her three children. The lawsuit says the woman and two of her children received severe, permanent injuries. A 10-year-old reportedly suffered a traumatic brain injury and multiple injuries that led the child to be confined to a bed, unable to walk, talk or feed himself. The case claims the woman’s 2-year-old son also has severe injuries, including a traumatic brain injury and lacerations to his internal organs.
The lawsuit says the city did not fix the broken traffic lights or secure the intersection for at least eight hours.
While records show the city did not admit any wrong in this situation, it did agree to pay $2.1 million to the family.
Big payouts are rare. Only 10 of the agreements 13 Investigates reviewed were for more than $100,000.
A 13 Investigates analysis showed pothole or road defect reimbursements made up more than 40% of the 197 agreements reviewed. The least expensive was $29.41. The most expensive was $200,000 and involved a motorcycle accident.
Still, most settlements were for $3,000 or less — including Christie’s claim.
Submitting a claim
Christie said he hit a bad patch of road while driving on Fall Creek Boulevard in spring 2019 during his morning commute downtown. He said hitting the crumbled roadway caused more than $2,000 in vehicle damage.
"Twelve to 14 inches drop,” Christie said. “Hit concrete, immediately noticed that my tire went flat."
The Indy resident and attorney immediately documented the damage and took photos of what the crumbled roadway looked like on April 4, 2019. In the end, he got reimbursement, but thinks being a lawyer is a big reason why he got paid.
After he popped a tire and bent his car rims, Christie filed a tort claim like hundreds of people do each year. The city explains some of the rules on its website. The site does not tell people a claim can be denied without the person filing the claim receiving a direct response from the city.
City records obtained by 13 Investigates show most years, only 1% to 2% of tort claims are usually paid outright. The rest, including Christie’s, were denied.
Not a problem for an experienced attorney. Christie’s next move was to file a lawsuit in small claims court against the City of Indianapolis and Citizen's Energy Group. Christie figured they would go before a judge and wrap up the issue in a day.
A couple of weeks later, Citizen's Energy requested a jury trial, which moved the case to Superior Court. Ultimately, a judge dismissed Citizen's from the case, and more than a year and a half later, the City agreed to pay for Christie's repairs.
Request for jury trial
“I thought it was ridiculous,” Christie said. “I thought, ‘Why would we want to waste all the time and energy and resources of the judge and the jury?’ If we had to bring a jury in, and we have to pay the jury for something, that's worth $2,000. So, I was disappointed, but it is a right that they have, and they took advantage of that right.”
Small claims courts have fewer rules than Superior Courts, so it is easier for an average person to represent themselves. A jury request moves a case to a Superior Court, where cases often require more time and more money.
When asked if he thought the move was a tactic to discourage people from pursuing a settlement, Christie said it was a “strategy.”
"I could see,” Christie said, “where a lot of people would just say, ‘Well, heck with it. I can't do a jury trial.'"
In the cases it reviewed, 13 Investigates found the city asked for a jury about half the time when sued in small claims court. Most cases were dropped immediately.
In a motion to dismiss, one man wrote he was giving up because he was “unable to obtain a lawyer … due to the small amount of damage ($863.96.) That can not justify an attorney’s time and effort…”
Christie believes the city’s strategy likely discourages people from fighting for compensation, echoing concerns 13 Investigates heard when reporting on police settlements. In January, the city’s Chief Litigation Counsel met with 13 Investigates to discuss those frustrations.
“You know, the accusation of playing hardball, I don't believe that would be the fair assessment,” Brandon Beeler said. “… remember that our dollars, we spend our taxpayer dollars, and we are incredibly mindful of that."
As a city resident, Christie said he is mindful of the balance to protect the people’s purse, but he also thinks the system should work for all residents — not just people like himself who have the means, time and know-how to fight for a claim.
"My own opinion is it's out of balance,” Christie said. "The city should have a little more responsibility to research and find out if it's a valid claim, and if so, pay it."
Christie said if that would have happened in his case, he would have received his money in 2019.
Instead, Christie said he had to force DPW to hand over proof it knew a problem existed for weeks before his accident. He even took time to depose a DPW worker to confirm the city was responsible for fixing the road defect.
Despite having that evidence, the city fought two years before agreeing to cut a check for $2,096.
Editor's Note: This story has been updated to reflect that in Lee Christie's case against the City of Indianapolis and Citizen's Energy Group, Citizen's filed the request for a jury trial, not the City of Indianapolis.