Almendarez v. Keller

566 N.E.2d 441, 207 Ill. App. 3d 756, 152 Ill. Dec. 754, 1990 Ill. App. LEXIS 1910
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedDecember 21, 1990
Docket1-89-0254
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 566 N.E.2d 441 (Almendarez v. Keller) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Almendarez v. Keller, 566 N.E.2d 441, 207 Ill. App. 3d 756, 152 Ill. Dec. 754, 1990 Ill. App. LEXIS 1910 (Ill. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE LORENZ

delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff, Charles Almendarez, Jr., by his father Charles Almendarez, appeals from the entry of summary judgment under section 2— 1005 of the Code of Civil Procedure (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 110, par. 2 — 1005) in defendant Paul Keller’s favor on counts V and VI of plaintiff’s complaint. We consider the following two issues: (1) whether, as alleged in count V, defendant, a landlord, could be liable for negligence to plaintiff, who was an employee of his tenant, for injuries sustained on the leased premises; and (2) whether, as alleged in count VI, defendant was liable under the Child Labor Law (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 48, par. 31.1 et seq.) when his tenant employed a minor. We affirm.

Plaintiff filed a seven-count complaint, as amended, to recover for injuries he sustained while operating a meat grinder in Pavia Quality-Meats, a meat market. Plaintiff was an employee of the meat market at the time of the accident although he was only 14 years old. The meat market was owned by Peter Pavia, who leased the premises from defendant. Nick Pavia was an employee of the meat market.

Counts I and III of the complaint were directed against Peter Pa-via, and count II was directed against Nick Pavia. Both parties have settled with plaintiff and neither is involved in this appeal. Counts IV through VII were directed against defendant; however, only counts V and VI are relevant on appeal.

In count V of the complaint, plaintiff alleged that defendant owned the premises and knew there was a meat grinder on the premises which was “hazardous and dangerous.” Plaintiff also alleged that defendant knew plaintiff, a minor, was an employee of the meat market and could not appreciate the risk of the meat grinder. Plaintiff alleged defendant was negligent when he allowed plaintiff to be present in the meat market, failed to supervise him, failed to prevent him from operating the meat grinder, permitted the meat grinder to remain on the premises, and failed to warn him of the danger.

Count VI alleged that defendant violated the Child Labor Law when he “permitted or allowed” plaintiff, a minor, to work in the meat market.

Defendant’s answer to count V is not in the record, but in his answer to count VI, he denied the material allegations.

Defendant moved for summary judgment on counts IV through VII, relying on his affidavit and his lease agreement with Peter Pavia. In his affidavit, defendant stated that he owned, the premises, leased it in its entirety to Peter Pavia, and had no ownership interest in the meat market or its equipment. The lease agreement provided that if the meat market permitted any unlawful or immoral practice on the premises, defendant had the right to terminate the lease.

In response to defendant’s motion for summary judgment, plaintiff relied on the meat market’s business license, Peter Pavia’s answers to interrogatories, affidavits from Jim Lagan and Mark Wesley, and depositions of defendant and Peter Pavia.

The. meat market’s business license showed that it was approved by defendant, who was a trustee of the village where the meat market was located.

In his answers to interrogatories, Peter Pavia stated that prior to the accident, defendant said to him, in reference to plaintiff, “I see you got a new kid working for you, huh?”

Jim.Lagan, a former employee of defendant, stated in his affidavit that defendant knew plaintiff was working in the meat market and that Lagan told defendant that plaintiff was one year behind him in school.

Mark Wesley, a former employee of the meat market, stated in his affidavit that he worked there when he was a minor and he believed defendant knew he was a minor. Wesley had occasionally sliced meat for defendant.

In his deposition, defendant testified that he did not have an ownership interest in either the meat market or its equipment. He had a set of keys to the premises although he never used them. A fuse box was located inside the meat market for apartments upstairs. He had never seen plaintiff before the accident and did not know he was an employee of the meat market.

Peter Pavia testified in his deposition that defendant knew plaintiff was working at the meat market and never objected to it. Pavia testified he owned the meat grinder.

The trial judge granted defendant’s motion for summary judgment on counts IV through VII. Plaintiff appeals from that order but only raises arguments concerning counts V and VI.

Opinion

Summary judgment should be granted if the pleadings, depositions, and affidavits reveal there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 110, par. 2 — 1005(c).

Count V of plaintiff’s complaint alleged that defendant, the landlord, was liable for negligence to plaintiff, for injuries sustained in the leased premises. The trial judge granted defendant’s motion for summary judgment, finding defendant did not owe plaintiff a duty of care. Whether defendant had a duty to exercise reasonable care is a question of law properly decided on a motion for summary judgment. Rowe v. State Bank (1988), 125 Ill. 2d 203, 531 N.E.2d 1358.

Generally, a landlord is not liable for injuries caused by a defective condition on the premises leased to a tenant and under the tenant’s control. (Rowe, 125 Ill. 2d 203, 531 N.E.2d 1358.) A lease is a conveyance of property ending the landlord’s control over the leased premises, which is a prerequisite to tort liability. (Wright v. Mr. Quick, Inc. (1985), 109 Ill. 2d 236, 486 N.E.2d 908.) Only the tenant, as the party in possession and control of the leased premises, could be liable to persons injured on the premises. (Wright, 109 Ill. 2d 236, 486 N.E.2d 908.) However, if the landlord retains control of a portion of the premises leased to the tenant, the landlord has a duty to maintain that part of the premises in a reasonably safe condition. Rowe, 125 Ill. 2d 203, 531 N.E.2d 1358.

Plaintiff contends that defendant retained control over the leased premises, relying on testimony that defendant had keys to the premises and a fuse box was located inside the meat market. These facts do not exhibit defendant’s control over the premises. The lease agreement states that Peter Pavia rented the “ground floor meat store” and no portion was retained for defendant’s control. Further, Pavia owned the meat grinder. It is clear that the premises and the meat grinder were under Pavia’s control.

Plaintiff also argues that under Kahn v. James Burton Co. (1955), 5 Ill. 2d 614, 126 N.E.2d 836

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Haendel v. State
50 Ill. Ct. Cl. 224 (Court of Claims of Illinois, 1996)
Jackson v. Shell Oil Co.
650 N.E.2d 652 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1995)
Rowe v. State Bank of Lombard
617 N.E.2d 520 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1993)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
566 N.E.2d 441, 207 Ill. App. 3d 756, 152 Ill. Dec. 754, 1990 Ill. App. LEXIS 1910, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/almendarez-v-keller-illappct-1990.