Peters v. Herrin Community School District No. 4

928 N.E.2d 1258, 401 Ill. App. 3d 356
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMay 19, 2010
Docket5-08-0125
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 928 N.E.2d 1258 (Peters v. Herrin Community School District No. 4) 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
Peters v. Herrin Community School District No. 4, 928 N.E.2d 1258, 401 Ill. App. 3d 356 (Ill. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinions

PRESIDING JUSTICE GOLDENHERSH

delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff, Kelly Peters, as the mother and next friend of Gene Peters, a minor, filed a personal injury lawsuit in the circuit court of Williamson County against defendants — Herrin Community School District No. 4 (School District), the Board of Education of Herrin Community School District No. 4, Mark Collins, who is the superintendent of the School District, and Jason Karnes, Robert Karnes, Dwayne Summers, Robert Long, and David Loucks, who are football coaches for the School District — after her son, Gene, was injured during a football camp sponsored by the School District. Defendants filed a motion to dismiss in which they alleged immunity under the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act (Act) (745 ILCS 10/1 — 101 et seq. (West 2006)). The trial court granted defendants’ motion to dismiss with prejudice. Plaintiff now appeals. We reverse and remand.

BACKGROUND

On July 25, 2006, Gene Peters was injured while participating in a summer football camp sponsored by defendants at the School District’s football facility. On that date, Gene and his fellow campers were, per the coaches’ instructions, running from the dressing room to the practice field when Gene tripped over a bumper used at the shot-put pit. The bumper was situated on the route the campers were instructed to take by the coaches.

On July 24, 2007, plaintiff filed an 18-count complaint against defendants, seeking in excess of $50,000. In the complaint, plaintiff alleged ordinary negligence and willful and wanton conduct against all defendants. The complaint alleged that (1) the bumper extended above ground level, (2) the bumper was obscured by weeds, (3) the bumper could have been removed until track season, (4) defendants knew or should have known that it created a dangerous condition for football players at the camp, and (5) defendants owed a duty to exercise due care in the operation, maintenance, and control of the football field. On September 28, 2007, defendants filed a motion to dismiss alleging immunity under section 3 — 106 of the Act (745 ILCS 10/3 — 106 (West 2006)).

On November 7, 2007, the trial court dismissed with prejudice all the ordinary-negligence claims, dismissed all the willful-and-wanton claims without prejudice, and allowed plaintiff 21 days in which to replead the willful-and-wanton counts. The complaint was amended on November 30, 2007, and filed on December 20, 2007. The amended complaint alleged that the football facility where the accident occurred was being used for educational purposes on the date of Gene’s injury.

On February 5, 2008, defendants filed a motion to dismiss plaintiffs complaint pursuant to section 2 — 615(e) of the Code of Civil Procedure (Code) (735 ILCS 5/2 — 615(e) (West 2006)). In the motion to dismiss plaintiffs amended complaint, defendants asserted that the football facility where the accident occurred was a recreational facility. Defendants asserted that section 3 — 106 of the Act (745 ILCS 10/3— 106 (West 2006)) entitled defendants to immunity because it bars all actions for common law negligence that occur on school property used for recreational facilities. On February 20, 2008, the trial court granted defendants’ motion to dismiss, finding that even after taking the pleaded facts as true, the immunity provisions of section 3 — 106 apply and, thus, plaintiff failed to state a cause of action as a matter of law. Plaintiff filed a timely notice of appeal.

ANALYSIS

The issue we are asked to address is whether the trial court erred in granting defendants’ motion to dismiss. Plaintiff first argues that defendants are not afforded immunity under section 3 — 106 of the Act because that immunity strictly applies to public property that is used for recreational purposes and plaintiffs complaint pleaded sufficient facts alleging that defendants’ football field was used for educational purposes, thereby negating immunity under the Act. In the alternative, plaintiff asserts that the trial court erred in dismissing the complaint because facts were not developed in the trial court to determine the intended or permitted use of the football field and, therefore, the trial court’s decision to dismiss was based upon mere speculation. Second, plaintiff argues that defendants are not afforded immunity under section 3 — 106 of the Act because that immunity does not apply due to exceptions to the immunity provisions of section 3 — 106. Finally, plaintiff argues that defendants are not afforded immunity because that immunity does not apply where the public entity is guilty of willful and wanton conduct and plaintiff sufficiently alleged that defendants were guilty of willful and wanton conduct by failing to exercise due care to remedy or protect against the danger that ultimately caused the injuries. Defendants respond that plaintiff waived any argument pertaining to ordinary negligence because plaintiffs notice of appeal pertains only to the trial court’s order of February 20, 2008, which addressed only the issue of whether plaintiff sufficiently pleaded willful and wanton conduct, and that exceptions to the Act, as now raised by plaintiff, were not presented to the trial court and were waived as well. In the alternative, defendants respond that even if ordinary negligence is considered, plaintiffs claim does not survive because defendants are immune under section 3 — 106 of the Act.

“A motion to dismiss [under section 2 — 615] tests the legal sufficiency of a pleading and a court must accept all well-pleaded facts as true.” Doe v. Calumet City, 161 Ill. 2d 374, 381, 641 N.E.2d 498, 501 (1994). In deciding a motion to dismiss, a court should view the allegations contained in the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Manuel v. Red Hill Community Unit School District No. 10 Board of Education, 324 Ill. App. 3d 279, 288, 754 N.E.2d 448, 457 (2001). The standard of review for a section 2 — 615 dismissal is de novo. Hough v. Kalousek, 279 Ill. App. 3d 855, 859, 665 N.E.2d 433, 435-36 (1996). In order to state a cause of action in negligence, plaintiff must plead sufficient facts to establish that defendants owed plaintiff a duty of care, a breach of that duty, and an injury proximately caused by that breach. Vaughn v. City of West Frankfort, 166 Ill. 2d 155, 157-58, 651 N.E.2d 1115, 1116 (1995).

The duty of a local public entity, such as a school district, is limited by section 3 — 102(a) of the Act, which states as follows:

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Related

Peters v. Herrin Community Unit School District No. 4
2015 IL App (5th) 130465 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2015)
Leja v. Community Unit School District 300
2012 IL App (2d) 120156 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2012)
Peters v. Herrin Community School District No. 4
928 N.E.2d 1258 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2010)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
928 N.E.2d 1258, 401 Ill. App. 3d 356, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/peters-v-herrin-community-school-district-no-4-illappct-2010.