Gas explosions sparked derivative claim over billion-dollar disaster

Trial Notebook

By Steven P. Garmisa

Hoey & Farina

Posted August 15, 2022 10:41 AM

In a shareholder derivative case against the directors of NiSource Inc. for a billion-dollar disaster called the Greater Lawrence Gas Explosions, the plaintiff argued that the “Massey theory” and the “Red-Flags Theory” excused it from having to ask the directors to sue themselves for careless conduct by a subsidiary. The catastrophe occurred in Massachusetts on Sept. 13, 2018, when highly pressurized natural gas surged through the pipes of a network designed for low pressure, igniting 80 fires in 40 homes, killing one …

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