Lucht v. Stage 2, Inc.

606 N.E.2d 750, 239 Ill. App. 3d 679, 179 Ill. Dec. 918, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 2125
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedDecember 30, 1992
Docket4-92-0034
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 606 N.E.2d 750 (Lucht v. Stage 2, Inc.) 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
Lucht v. Stage 2, Inc., 606 N.E.2d 750, 239 Ill. App. 3d 679, 179 Ill. Dec. 918, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 2125 (Ill. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinions

JUSTICE COOK

delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff, Drew Lucht, sued defendant, Stage 2, Inc., a dance club, to recover damages resulting from a battery that occurred at Stage 2 on January 6, 1989. Stage 2 filed a counterclaim against Mark Rupnik and William Hoskins, alleging that they were responsible for plaintiff’s injuries. The jury returned a verdict in favor of plaintiff and against Stage 2, Rupnik, and Hoskins, awarding plaintiff a total of $211,700. The trial court entered judgment on the verdict, and a judgment on the counterclaim in favor of Stage 2 and against Rupnik in the amount of $21,170, and in favor of Stage 2 and against Hoskins in the amount of $105,850. Stage 2 appeals, arguing that (1) it did not owe plaintiff a duty to protect him from the criminal act of a third party; (2) the trial court committed reversible error by allowing plaintiff’s expert to testify in violation of Supreme Court Rule 220 (134 Ill. 2d R. 220); (3) the trial court erred by allowing some of plaintiff’s exhibits into evidence; and (4) the evidence does not support the jury’s verdict.

We affirm.

I. Facts

On January 6, 1989, plaintiff and two friends went to Stage 2, a teenage dance club for persons 14 to 20 years in age in Springfield, Illinois. While at the club, Kim Bernard, plaintiff’s niece, argued with Mark Rupnik. Plaintiff stepped in and told Rupnik to leave his niece alone. Pierre Parrish, a Stage 2 security guard, saw this incident and broke up the confrontation. Although William Hoskins was not involved in the argument, he was standing with his friend Rupnik.

Approximately 10 minutes later, Rupnik, Hoskins, and one other person approached plaintiff and his two friends at the soda bar. Rupnik spoke to plaintiff, who told Rupnik he had no problem with him. No one was pushing, shoving, or using hostile words. However, as Rupnik walked away, he looked over his shoulder and nodded his head, apparently in the direction of Hoskins. Suddenly, Hoskins stepped toward plaintiff, told plaintiff to quit staring at him, and then punched plaintiff in the mouth. Before plaintiff or his friends could react, Hoskins hit plaintiff a second time.

Plaintiff testified that he suffered severe headaches for several days after the beating, although medication helped ease the pain. He was also bedridden for several days, could not walk without help, and did not recognize friends who would visit him. After being hospitalized for 10 days, he still experienced extreme pain in his head and weakness due to a brain hemorrhage. Light irritated his condition, so the drapes were shut and lights kept off in his room for a month. Plaintiff testified at trial that he still suffered from weakness, fatigue, recurrent incapacitating headaches, memory loss, and mental sluggishness.

At trial, plaintiff introduced evidence concerning security that Stage 2 had implemented since it opened in May 1988. Robert Scheer, owner of Stage 2, hired a manager and a security staff for Stage 2. The manager, David Whitman, supervised the security staff. Scheer also hired plainclothes, off-duty Springfield police officers to work at the club for security. Security officers at Stage 2 were supposed to watch for arguments, be ready to break up fights, and watch people who had been in arguments. Stage 2 also kept file cards for future reference on individuals who were involved in incidents at the club.

Several members of Stage 2’s security force testified at trial. Garrick Williams, one of those security officers, testified that his job at Stage 2 was to break up fights and watch for alcohol and arguments. He estimated that at least one argument and one “pushing fight” occurred weekly at the club, although “knock-down, drag-out fights” did not occur very often. Club policy required the security guards to watch people who had argued earlier in the night as long as they remained at the club.

Stage 2 management had specifically told Williams to keep an eye on Rupnik, whom they deemed “a known troublemaker.” Stage 2 security guards knew of Rupnik’s reputation as someone who would usually instigate some confrontation but then have someone else do his fighting for him. Williams also knew of Hoskins’ reputation as a “hothead.” Another security guard, Jacqueline Ryan, corroborated Williams’ testimony about Rupnik’s reputation. David Whitman, manager of Stage 2, was responsible for security at the club and imposed penalties on patrons who violated club rules. Whitman testified that prior to the incident in question, Rupnik had been banned from the club for two weeks for slamming his fist or a pool stick through the wall of the pool room after missing a shot during a game of pool.

Security guard Parrish testified that Stage 2 had six security stations throughout its premises to be staffed by one security guard each. Five of these stations were at fixed points throughout Stage 2. A sixth security officer was supposed to roam the premises. Parrish became familiar with Rupnik shortly after starting employment at Stage 2 and knew of Rupnik’s reputation as a troublemaker. Parrish said that Rupnik and his friends would occasionally bully other patrons at the club, and that on several other occasions Rupnik threatened to fight patrons at the club if they did not give him money. Parrish testified that on the evening in question but before Hoskins hit plaintiff, some Stage 2 patrons advised Parrish that there was going to be a fight that night that might involve Rupnik.

The jury found in favor of plaintiff and awarded the following damages: compensatory damages, $10,500; future pain and suffering, $200,000; disability, $0; and lost wages, $1,200; for a total of $211,700. The jury assessed negligence in the following manner: plaintiff, 1%; Stage 2, 39%; Rupnik, 10%; and Hoskins, 50%.

II. Analysis

A. Negligence

“To properly state a cause of action for negligence, the plaintiff must establish that the defendant owed a duty of care, a breach of that duty, and an injury proximately caused by the breach.” (Wojdyla v. City of Park Ridge (1992), 148 Ill. 2d 417, 421, 592 N.E.2d 1098, 1100; see also Rowe v. State Bank (1988), 125 Ill. 2d 203, 215, 531 N.E.2d 1358, 1364.) Duty is determined by asking whether plaintiff and defendant stood in a relationship to one another such that the law imposed upon the defendant an obligation of reasonable conduct for plaintiffs benefit. (Ward v. K mart Corp. (1990), 136 Ill. 2d 132, 140, 554 N.E.2d 223, 226.) Whether there is a relationship between the parties so as to impose a legal obligation upon one for the benefit of another is a question of law to be determined by the court under the facts of each particular case. Rowe, 125 Ill. 2d at 215, 531 N.E.2d at 1364.

1. Duty

Illinois recognizes a duty between business invitees and their hosts. (See Rowe, 125 Ill. 2d at 216, 531 N.E.2d at 1364.) A relationship between the parties is that of business invitee and invitor when the following circumstances exist:

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Lucht v. Stage 2, Inc.
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
606 N.E.2d 750, 239 Ill. App. 3d 679, 179 Ill. Dec. 918, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 2125, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lucht-v-stage-2-inc-illappct-1992.