Taylor v. Citibank Corporation

2023 IL App (1st) 220770-U

• Court: Appellate Court of Illinois
• Decided: December 8, 2023
• Docket: 1-22-0770
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

2023 IL App (1st) 220770-U

SIXTH DIVISION December 8, 2023

No. 1-22-0770

NOTICE: This order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23 and is not precedent except in the limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e)(1).

IN THE APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS FIRST DISTRICT

VERDIA TAYLOR, ) Appeal from the ) Circuit Court of Plaintiff-Appellant, ) Cook County ) v. ) No. 20 L 013902 ) CITI BANK CORPORATION, ) The Honorable ) Patrick Sherlock, Defendant-Appellee. ) Judge Presiding.

JUSTICE TAILOR delivered the judgment of the court. Presiding Justice Oden Johnson and Justice C.A. Walker concurred in the judgment.

ORDER

¶1 Held: The judgment of the circuit court dismissing plaintiff’s complaint under the doctrine of res judicata is affirmed.

¶2 I. BACKGROUND

¶3 Plaintiff Verdia Taylor appeals pro se from the circuit court’s dismissal of her complaint

for breach of contract against Defendant Citi Bank Corporation (Citibank). Citibank did not file a

brief in this appeal and, as a result, we consider only Taylor’s brief and the record.

¶4 On December 31, 2020, Taylor filed a complaint alleging that Citibank “allowed wrongful

withdrawals from the ‘frozen’ accounts of the Estate of Verdia Taylor Sr.” Verdia Taylor Sr. was No. 1-22-0770

Taylor’s mother. As the administrator of the estate of Verdia Taylor Sr. (Estate), Taylor sought a

judgment against Citibank to return “the original 60K” in the Citibank account to the Estate and

to impose punitive damages against Citibank. The record suggests that Taylor shared the Citibank

account with her mother, and that Taylor’s other family members wrongfully withdrew funds from

the account. Taylor alleged that Citibank was “guilty of breach of written contract[,]” but she did

not attach the contract or any supporting exhibits to her complaint.

¶5 On July 21, 2021, the circuit court defaulted Citibank for failing to appear and set the case

for prove-up on September 9, 2021. The circuit court continued the case several times to allow

Taylor to obtain and provide evidence to support her allegations, and it ultimately set the case for

prove-up on February 2, 2022.

¶6 Before the February 2, 2022, prove-up hearing, Citibank filed an appearance and a motion

to vacate default order and for an extension of time. On February 8, 2022, the circuit court vacated

the order of default entered on July 21, 2021, and ordered Citibank to file an answer to the

complaint by February 23, 2022.

¶7 On February 23, 2022, Citibank filed a combined motion to dismiss pursuant to section

5/2-619.1 of the Civil Practice Law (735 ILCS 5/2-619.1 (West 2020)), asserting, inter alia, that

Taylor’s complaint failed to state a claim, and that the complaint was barred by res judicata and

the statute of limitations.

¶8 With respect to its res judicata defense, Citibank stated that on May 18, 2010, Taylor filed

a complaint against Citibank in the Circuit Court of Cook County, styled: Verdia Taylor v. Citi-

Bank Corporation, case no. 2010 L 5832 (2010 action). The 2010 action alleged that Citibank

“allowed 35K(+) – possibly more, to be removed from accounts by false representation causing

hardship to the family and inability to ‘bury’ loved ones properly[.]” Taylor alleged three claims:

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(1) professional malpractice; (2) extreme financial hardship; and (3) gross negligence. She sought

$1 million in damages. Citibank removed the case to federal court and at the same time moved to

dismiss the complaint. There the action was styled, Verdua(sic) Taylor v. Citibank N.A., no. 10 C

3742. Taylor failed to respond to Citibank’s motion. On October 15, 2010, the federal court

dismissed the 2010 action with prejudice, reasoning that the economic loss doctrine barred

Taylor’s complaint and that Illinois did not recognize claims for gross negligence or “extreme

financial hardship.”

¶9 Seven years later, on October 25, 2017, Taylor filed a second complaint against Citibank

in federal court, styled: Estate of Verdia Taylor Sr., Verdia Taylor Jr. v. Citi-Bank Corporation,

case no.17 CV 7709 (2017 action). The 2017 action alleged that:

“On numerous occasions the bank account of [Taylor’s mother] was frozen repeatedly (by

City-Bank) [sic] at the request of [Taylor’s mother] and [Taylor] but reopened, repeatedly

by City-Bank [sic] ‘without’ the permission of [Taylor’s mother] or her Estate. Citibank

allowed 40K to flow out of the account by use of fraudulent signatures of other family

members (siblings).”

¶ 10 Taylor sought a judgment for “the return of 40K dollars fraudulently removed from the

Citi-Bank [sic] account in question,” as well as for punitive damages equal to the “original” amount

placed in the account, which was “50K.” Taylor asserted the following claims: (1) “issues of

discovery”; (2) “mental and emotional anguish”; (3) “humiliation”; and (4) “professional

malpractice.”

¶ 11 On November 17, 2017, the federal court dismissed the 2017 action with prejudice. The

court reasoned that the 2017 action asserted claims against Citibank related to the “management

of her bank accounts[,]” the same claims raised by Taylor in the 2010 action, which the federal

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court dismissed with prejudice. The federal court ruled that the doctrine of claim preclusion barred

the 2017 action.

¶ 12 Here, Citibank argued that under the doctrine of res judicata, Taylor’s current action was

barred by the final judgments rendered by the federal court in both the 2010 and 2017 actions

because both actions were dismissed with prejudice, and neither was appealed. Citibank asserted

that a dismissal of a complaint for a failure to state a claim constitutes an adjudication on the

merits. Relying on River Park, Inc v. City of Highland Park, 184 Ill. 2d 290 (1998), Citibank

argued that res judicata bars a litigant’s breach of contract claim in state court where it arises from

the same core of operative facts as the claims previously dismissed with prejudice by a federal

court. Specifically, Citibank argued that the cause of action asserted in the 2010 action, 2017

action, and the current action were the same even though the various actions alleged different legal

theories. Relying on Cooney v. Rossiter, 2012 IL 113227, Citibank argued that a claim for breach

of contract in the present action is considered the same cause of action for purposes of res judicata

because it arises from the same operative facts alleged in the 2010 and 2017 actions, in that all

three actions alleged wrongful withdrawals from the Citibank account. Lastly, Citibank argued

that the identity of the parties is the same because Taylor filed all three actions against Citibank.

¶ 13 In response, Taylor argued that the causes of action are not identical because unlike the tort

claims she asserted in the 2010 and 2017 actions, the present action asserted a claim for breach of

contract. In addition, she argued that res judicata did not apply because the 2010 and 2017 actions

were decided by a federal court and the present action was before a state court.

¶ 14 On May 3, 2022, the circuit court granted Citibank’s motion to dismiss, reasoning that the

current complaint was barred by the doctrine of res judicata. Taylor timely filed her notice of

appeal on June 1, 2022.

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¶ 15 II. ANALYSIS

¶ 16 On appeal, Taylor asserts that the instant lawsuit is meant to “correct the mistake of filing

an inappropriate Cause of Action that was stated in the original case upon which this current case

is based” and “not to resurrect old causes of action.” Taylor argues that Citibank breached its

contractual obligations to her when it allowed improper withdrawals from the Citibank account,

and that the doctrine of res judicata does not bar this action because “the Breach of Contract could

not have been previously presented due to the freezing and unfreezing of the account.” Taylor

asserts that there was not a breach at the time of the previous filings “[d]ue to the intermittent

nature of the account, the account was frozen at the time of the original filings, and was never

mentioned in the reconsideration filings[.]”

¶ 17 We review dismissals pursuant to sections 2-615 (735 ILCS 5/2-615 (West 2020)) and 2-

619 (735 ILCS 5/2-619 (West 2020)) de novo. Masters v. Murphy, 2020 IL App (1st) 190908, ¶ 9.

Here, because it is dispositive, we only need to consider Citibank’s section 2-619 motion to dismiss

asserting the doctrine of res judicata. A section 2-619 motion to dismiss admits the sufficiency of

the claim but asserts an affirmative matter outside of the pleadings that defeats the claim. Id.

¶ 18 Under the doctrine of res judicata, a final judgment on the merits rendered by a court of

competent jurisdiction bars any subsequent cause of action between the parties on the same cause

of action. Coonery v. Rossiter, 2012 IL 113227, ¶ 18. The doctrine applies to all matters decided

in the prior action and all matters that could have been decided. (Emphasis added.) Id. The doctrine

of res judicata bars a subsequent action if the following three requirements are met: (1) there was

a final judgment on the merits rendered by a court of competent jurisdiction; (2) there was an

identity of cause of action; and (3) there was an identity of parties. Id. We discuss each requirement

in turn.

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¶ 19 First, there are two final judgments on the merits rendered by the federal court. Id. As

discussed, Taylor filed complaints against Citibank in 2010 and 2017, alleging that funds were

missing from the Citibank account. A federal court dismissed Taylor’s 2010 action for failure to

state a claim. A dismissal for failure to state a claim is a final judgment on the merits. Nowak v. St.

Rita High School, 197 Ill. 2d. 381, 390 (2001). Additionally, the 2017 action was also dismissed

with prejudice pursuant to the doctrine of res judicata. The federal court, in reviewing the dismissal

of the 2010 action, ruled that the 2017 action was barred by the doctrine of claim preclusion. Taylor

did not appeal the dismissal of either the 2010 or the 2017 action. These dismissals were judgments

on the merits and satisfy the first requirement of the doctrine of res judicata.

¶ 20 Second, there is an identity of the cause of action between this action and the 2010 and

2017 actions. Coonery, 2012 IL 113227, ¶ 17. It is undisputed that the 2010 and 2017 actions

alleged improper withdrawals from the same Citibank account. Taylor specifically acknowledges

in her brief that the instant action “was to correct the mistake of filing an inappropriate Cause of

Action that was stated in the original case upon which this current case is based.” (Emphasis in

the original.) Even without this concession by Taylor, the record readily establishes that all three

actions allege inappropriate withdrawals from the same Citibank account shared by Taylor and her

mother for which Citibank is allegedly responsible because the account had been frozen by Taylor

or her mother. We reject Taylor’s assertion that she could not have filed a breach of contract claim

in 2010 because the Citibank account was frozen at the time in accordance with her and her

mother’s wishes. The 2010 action alleged that the wrongful withdrawals had already occurred and

any of those withdrawals may have supported a breach of contract claim. Though the 2010 and

2017 actions do not provide a definitive timeline of the improper withdrawals, the 2010 action

alleged wrongful withdrawals prior to May 18, 2010, and the wrongful withdrawals continued

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after the dismissal of the 2010 action on October 15, 2010, and after the death of Taylor’s mother

on October 5, 2011. After Taylor’s mother’s death, any wrongful withdrawals must have occurred

before the Citibank account was closed in November 2013 for a lack of funds.

¶ 21 Consequently, all predicate acts or omissions by Citibank pertaining to the subject

withdrawals occurred prior to November 2013 when the Citibank account was closed. Any claims

Taylor may have had about withdrawals made after the dismissal of the 2010 action could have

been alleged in the 2017 action. Although the federal court dismissed the 2017 action on res

judicata grounds, it is unclear from the order if the federal court considered whether there were

additional facts included in the 2017 action that were not pled in the 2010 action. Regardless, as

stated before, neither judgment was appealed, and we are not in the position to second guess the

validity of the judgments. “It is well established that the facts as they exist at the time of judgment

determine whether res judicata bars a subsequent action.” Doe v. Gleicher, 393 Ill. App. 3d 31, 39

(1st Dist. 2009) (citing Altair Corp. v. Grand Premier Trust & Investment, Inc., 318 Ill. App. 57,

62 (2000). It is apparent from the record that all the facts that support the instant case were

knowable at the time of the 2017 action and at least some—if not most—of them were known at

the time of the 2010 action.

¶ 22 Lastly, there was an identity of parties. Coonery,2012 IL 113227, ¶ 17. Taylor filed all

three actions against Citibank.

¶ 23 Accordingly, we find that the instant complaint was properly dismissed under the doctrine

of res judicata.

¶ 24 III. CONCLUSION

¶ 25 For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the circuit court is affirmed.

¶ 26 Affirmed.