Appeals court affirms ruling that IBM owes Indiana $78M
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana’s Court of Appeals on Friday upheld a judge’s ruling that IBM owes Indiana $78 million in damages stemming from the company’s failed effort to automate much of the state’s welfare services.
The decision affirmed Marion Superior Court Judge Heather Welch’s August 2017 award to the state in the long-running case, but the three-judge court also found that IBM is entitled to interest on nearly $50 million in state fees that Welch ruled Indiana owes the company.
Welch had rejected IBM’s request for interest on those fees, but the appellate court reversed the decision and sent the matter back to Welch to determine the amount of interest IBM is owed. The court specified that the interest be calculated for the more than six years that have elapsed since another Marion County judge found in 2012 that Indiana owed IBM $49.5 million in state fees.
John Maley, one of the private attorneys representing Indiana in the case, called Friday’s ruling “a significant victory for Hoosier taxpayers.” He said the state’s attorneys believe Welch ruled correctly on the interest issue and that they will be conferring with state officials “regarding that narrow legal issue and possible further review.”