Hudson v. YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago

CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedNovember 13, 2007
Docket1-06-3550 Rel
StatusPublished

This text of Hudson v. YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago (Hudson v. YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago) 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
Hudson v. YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago, (Ill. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

SECOND DIVISION November 13, 207

No. 1-06-3550

TERRY HUDSON, ) Appeal from the ) Circuit Court of Plaintiff-Appellant, ) Cook County ) v. ) ) No. 04 L 4449 YMCA OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO LLC, a Not-for- ) Profit Illinois Corporation, d/b/a Rich Port YMCA, ) Honorable ) Jeffrey Lawrence, Defendant-Appellee. ) Judge Presiding.

JUSTICE KARNEZIS delivered the opinion of the court:

This appeal arises from an order of the trial court granting partial summary

judgment to defendant YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago, LLC., d/b/a Rich Port YMCA

(the YMCA), in plaintiff Terry Hudson's personal injury action against the YMCA. On

April 19, 2004, plaintiff was performing community service at the YMCA's Rich Port

facility as part of his plea agreement for a criminal offense when scaffolding on which

he was standing tipped over. He sued the YMCA for his resulting injuries, alleging

negligence and wilful and wanton misconduct. The court granted partial summary

judgment to the YMCA on plaintiff's negligence claim, finding the YMCA immune from

tort liability under section 1(e) of the Probation Community Service Act (730 ILCS

115/1(e) (West 2006)). The court denied plaintiff's motion for reconsideration and

made its order final and appealable on November 22, 2006. 1-06-3550

Plaintiff timely appeals the court's order denying his motion for reconsideration,

arguing the court erred in entering summary judgment for the YMCA on his negligence

claim because the section 1(e) immunity (1) extends only to funds other than the

YMCA's liability insurance coverage and (2) violates the equal protection clauses of the

United States and Illinois Constitutions (U.S. Const., amend. XIV; Ill. Const. 1970, art. I,

§2). We have jurisdiction to consider the appeal pursuant to Supreme Court Rules 301

(155 Ill. 2d R. 301) and 303 (210 Ill. 2d R. 303). We affirm.

Waiver of Immunity

Plaintiff first asserts the court erred in granting summary judgment to the YMCA

on his negligence claim because, by acquiring tort liability insurance coverage, the

YMCA waived its section 1(e) tort immunity to the extent of that coverage. This issue

concerns matters of summary judgment and statutory construction, both of which we

review de novo. Elsbury v. Stann & Associates, 371 Ill. App. 3d 181, 185, 861 N.E.2d

1031, 1035 (2006).

Section 1(e) provides:

"Neither the State, any local government, probation department, public or

community service program or site, nor any official, volunteer, or employee

thereof acting in the course of their official duties shall be liable for any injury or

loss a person might receive while performing public or community service as

ordered either (1) by the court or (2) by any duly authorized station or probation

adjustment, teen court, community mediation, or other administrative diversion

2 1-06-3550

program authorized by the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 for a violation of a penal

statute of this State or a local government ordinance (whether penal, civil, or

quasi-criminal) or for a traffic offense, nor shall they be liable for any tortious

acts of any person performing public or community service, except for wilful,

wanton misconduct or gross negligence on the part of such governmental unit,

probation department, or public or community service program or site or on the

part of the official, volunteer, or employee." (Emphasis added.) 730 ILCS

115/1(e) (West 2006).

It is uncontested that plaintiff suffered his injuries while performing community service

at a YMCA community service site by court order for a criminal offense. Therefore,

unless the YMCA engaged in wilful and wanton misconduct or was grossly negligent,

the YMCA is not liable for any injury plaintiff sustained and the trial court properly

granted summary judgment to the YMCA on plaintiff's negligence claim. See Petty v.

Crowell, 306 Ill. App. 3d 774, 715 N.E.2d 317 (1999) (affirming dismissal of negligence

action against municipality pursuant to section 5-5-7 of the Unified Code of Corrections

(730 ILCS 5/5-5-7 (West 1994)), a provision identical to section 1(e); court held,

barring allegations of wilful and wanton misconduct or gross negligence, municipality

and its employees were immune from liability for injuries caused or sustained by court-

ordered community services participants).

However, the YMCA carried an insurance policy with a $1 million liability limit

and $2 million general aggregate. Looking to common law, plaintiff argues public

3 1-06-3550

policy favors compensating a tort victim where insurance protects public or charitable

funds and, therefore, where a public or charitable entity has chosen to take out liability

insurance coverage, the entity has waived immunity, whether statutory or common law,

to the extent of the insurance coverage. He asserts that the section 1(e) immunity is

not absolute and extends only to funds beyond those covered by liability insurance

coverage, i.e., that the immunity extends only to the YMCA's charitable funds

unprotected by the $1 million insurance coverage and cannot be invoked to protect the

insurance carrier.

Under the common law "charitable immunity doctrine," a charitable institution

was absolutely immune from tort liability, the courts' reasoning being that a charity's

trust funds should be protected and paying damages from those funds would divert the

funds from the purpose for which they were given. See generally Moore v. Moyle, 405

Ill. 555, 558-60, 92 N.E. 81, 83-84 (1950); Wendt v. Servite Fathers, 332 Ill. App. 618,

621-32, 76 N.E.2d 342, 343-48 (1947). Over time, in cases where a charitable or

governmental entity carried indemnifying liability insurance, courts developed the

"waiver of immunity" doctrine, holding that the charitable or governmental entity's

common law immunity was not absolute if trust funds were protected and that, by

buying liability insurance, the entity waived immunity to the extent of the insurance

coverage because public policy favored compensating tort victims for their injuries and

insurers should not be able to avoid their obligations by hiding behind a curtain of

immunity. Moore, 405 Ill. at 563-66, 92 N.E. at 86-87; Wendt, 332 Ill. App. at 634, 76

4 1-06-3550

N.E.2d at 349; Beach v. City of Springfield, 32 Ill. App. 2d 256, 260-61, 177 N.E.2d 436,

438-39 (1961). The charitable immunity doctrine was abrogated by our supreme court

in 1965. Darling v. Charleston Community Memorial Hospital, 33 Ill. 2d 326, 337, 211

N.E.2d 253, 260 (1965) ("the doctrine of charitable immunity can no longer stand"),

following Molitor v. Kaneland Community Unit District No. 302, 18 Ill. 2d 11, 163 N.E.2d

89 (1959).

Plaintiff recognizes that the charitable immunity doctrine was abolished but

argues that this does not necessarily constitute abolition of the waiver of immunity

doctrine. He asserts the two doctrines rest on entirely different public policy

considerations: the charitable immunity doctrine sought to protect the trust funds of

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