KOSCIUSKO COUNTY — State and federal claims by Atta Belle Helman and son, Larry Dwayne Helman, against The Papers Inc and Stacey Staley have been dismissed with prejudice by Kosciusko Circuit Court and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, South Bend Division. The motions granting dismissal were filed earlier this week.

Court documents show that the parties engaged in negotiations and reached a settlement of the case. The complaints against the remaining parties are given 60 days to amend their pleading to include the dismissed parties as non-parties. With prejudice means the plaintiffs are barred from filing another case on the same claim and it is a final judgement on claims that were or could have been brought.

The complaint stems from the shooting death of Gary Helman on Aug. 25, 2014, which also resulted in injury to Larry Helman. The Papers Inc. and Stacey Staley, an employee of the company at the time, along with Barnett’s Bail Bonds Inc., Tadd S. Martin, Daniel S. Foster and Michael C. Thomas, were all named in the original eight-count each complaint filed in June 6. 2016, and an amended 17 count complaint was filed on Dec. 15, 2016.

The amended complaint was filed after Kosciusko Circuit Court Judge Michael Reed dismissed the allegations against The Papers Inc. and Staley on Dec. 5. He ruled there existed no claim in which relief could be granted.

Within the amended complaint is the count of vicarious liability of The Papers Inc for the conduct its employee-servant, Staley.

Under the complaint against The Papers Inc. counsel for the plaintiffs states The Papers Inc. is vicariously liable for the “tortious acts of Staley,” to the extent that she operated as an employee-servant within the scope of her agency relationship with The Papers Inc.

The complaint states vicarious liability is the legal fiction by which a court can hold a party legally responsible for the wrongful acts of another. A 2014 Indiana Supreme Court case is referenced with the reasoning noted as “in the context of employer-employee relationships, the doctrine of respondent superior is a doctrine of agency. An employer-master may be held vicariously liable for the wrongful acts of employee-servants committed within the scope of the agency relationship.”

Documents further state at all times relevant to the action, Staley was operating as an employee or agent for The Papers Inc. and that she conducted herself in a fashion and with the intent to further her own professional interests, along with that of The Papers Inc., by conspiring to manufacture and create a news story that would gain publicity and provide Staley and The Papers Inc. with multiple news stories to cover. “She further acted to further her agency relationship and continued to write multiple stories on this incident even in the wake of the violent shooting of Larry Helman and the death of Gary Helman.”

Additionally the amended complaint notes Staley acted with express, implied, and/or apparent authority stemming from her agency relationship with The Papers Inc. and in the course of acting within the scope of that agency relationship, Staley committed wrongful acts against the plaintiffs, causing them physical injuries and damages.