Petrich v. MCY Music World, Inc.

862 N.E.2d 1171, 308 Ill. Dec. 968, 371 Ill. App. 3d 332
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedFebruary 8, 2007
Docket1-05-1903
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 862 N.E.2d 1171 (Petrich v. MCY Music World, 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
Petrich v. MCY Music World, Inc., 862 N.E.2d 1171, 308 Ill. Dec. 968, 371 Ill. App. 3d 332 (Ill. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

JUSTICE CAMPBELL

delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff, Pierre Petrich, appeals from multiple orders of the circuit court of Cook County denying class certification of her complaint for consumer fraud, negligence and breach of contract against defendants, various music promoters, a music venue and the pop band “*NSYNC.” Plaintiff alleged that defendants, MCY Music World, Inc. (a music distribution company); SEX Entertainment Group, Inc., and its affiliates 1 (promoters and marketers of the *NSYNC tour); Route 66 Raceway LLC (the concert venue); SKEEZ, LLC (*NSYNC’s live show producer); ZEEKS, Inc. (owner of the trademark “*NSYNC” and employer of the band members); the band *NSYNC and its individual band members, J.C. Chasez, Lance Bass, Chris Kirkpatrick, Justin Timber lake, and Joey Fatone, breached their contractual duty to ensure her timely arrival to the Route 66 Raceway concert venue and sought damages on behalf of herself and for a class of “all ticket-holders” of an *NSYNC concert performed on August 1, 2000.

On appeal, plaintiff contends that: (1) the trial court erred in failing to certify a class of concertgoer-plaintiffs who plaintiff alleges were denied reasonable access to the *NSYNC concert when defendants breached the contractual terms of the concert tickets; (2) the trial court erred in dismissing plaintiffs consumer fraud claim; (3) the trial court erred in dismissing the individual *NSYNC defendants from the case; and (4) the trial court erred in failing to enforce the terms of plaintiffs settlement agreement with defendants. For the following reasons, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

BACKGROUND

The record reveals the following relevant facts. David S. Petrich purchased four twelfth-row center tickets for the August 1, 2000, concert of the pop band *NSYNC, at the Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Illinois, from Gold Coast Tickets, Ltd., a ticket broker, and gave them to his wife, plaintiff, Pierre Petrich. Plaintiff took the tickets for herself, her daughter, her niece, and her daughter’s friend and drove her guests to the concert, starting out from her home in Northbrook and stopping first for dinner at her sister’s home in Naperville. Plaintiff then took directions from her sister for the drive from Naperville to Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, and left Naperville at 6 p.m. relying on her sister’s 25- to 30-minute estimate of the driving time. Plaintiff encountered heavy traffic and difficulty parking; plaintiff parked at approximately 9:45 p.m and she and her party missed a significant portion of the concert.

On August 4, 2000, plaintiff filed a lawsuit alleging violations of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act (815 ILCS 505/2 (West 2004)) (Consumer Fraud Act), breach of contract and negligence, and seeking to certify a class of all ticket holders. Plaintiff alleged damages on behalf of “hundreds, if not thousands” of ticket holders who missed “most or all” of the *NSYNC concert as a result of congested traffic on the roadway leading into the Route 66 Raceway and inadequate parking facilities on the premises. Plaintiff alleged that: (1) Route 66 Raceway lacked the traffic control to accommodate a crowd of 48,000 ticket holders; (2) roads leading to the concert were “impassable for miles”; (3) plaintiff and other ticket holders “were aware of only one major artery in and out of the venue,” i.e., Illinois Route 53; and (4) Route 66 Raceway advised patrons to use Route 53 on its website.

The individual defendants filed appearances contesting personal jurisdiction and the remaining defendants filed motions to dismiss plaintiffs complaint. On July 10, 2001, plaintiff filed a third amended complaint in three counts.

In December 2001 and again in January 2002, the trial court, Judge Lester Foreman presiding, dismissed plaintiffs class action as legally insufficient. Judge Foreman also twice dismissed plaintiffs consumer fraud claim for failure to state a claim for relief. Judge Foreman allowed to stand, however, plaintiffs claim for “breach of license,” ruling that an implied contract existed by way of defendants’ inclusion of a $3 parking charge on each ticket which in turn created a contractual obligation that defendants communicate parking access problems to each ticket purchaser.

Following Judge Foreman’s death, plaintiffs case was assigned to Judge Deborah Dooling. On December 2, 2003, Judge Dooling denied plaintiffs motion for class certification, holding that class certification was improper where no common questions of fact predominated:

“[T]he circumstances surrounding each plaintiff’s purchase of tickets, their attempts to acquire travel or parking information, and the time they arrived at the concert [are] unique. This Court could not answer all these questions of fact without examining each individual plaintiffs individual circumstances.”

Judge Dooling further held that no common questions of law predominated because damages and privity of contract are individual questions, and that plaintiff was not an adequate class representative because she did not purchase her own tickets and lacked privity of contract with any defendant.

On January 2, 2004, plaintiff filed a motion to reconsider Judge Dooling’s denial of class certification. On April 24, 2004, Judge Dooling held a pretrial settlement conference. Plaintiff proposed two settlement classes: one comprised of concertgoers who wrote letters to the promoters or to newspapers complaining that they missed part or all of the concert because they were stuck in a traffic jam and another class comprised of people who did not write to complain but similarly missed portions or all of the concert. Plaintiff proposed that some *NSYNC-related item be awarded to this class on a “claims made basis,” and that this group would receive notice only by publication. Defendants rejected plaintiffs proposal.

On May 7, 2004, defendants’ counsel offered to pay plaintiff a total of $40,000 to a class of plaintiffs defined as “those individuals who wrote letters of complaint about the concert” and provided that the offer would expire on May 12, 2004. Plaintiff did not accept the offer and the offer expired.

Meanwhile, Judge Donnersberger took over Judge Dooling’s call in the trial court. On May 9, 2004, Judge Donnersberger upheld Judge Dooling’s ruling denying class certification.

On May 14, 2003, at 9 a.m., prior to a 10 a.m. scheduled court appearance, the parties again commenced settlement negotiations. Plaintiffs counsel proposed a settlement amount of $45,000 on behalf of the subclass of concertgoers who wrote complaint letters. Defendants’ counsel responded that defendants would settle for $45,000, in exchange for a written release from all “those who claim to have been late or to have missed any part of the concert and of individuals who wrote letters of complaint about the concert.” (Emphasis in original.) Defendants’ final settlement offer was $45,000 and required written confirmation of agreement by 10 a.m. on May 14, 2004. Plaintiffs counsel responded to this offer stating that he would only settle on behalf of the smaller subclass.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
862 N.E.2d 1171, 308 Ill. Dec. 968, 371 Ill. App. 3d 332, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/petrich-v-mcy-music-world-inc-illappct-2007.