Neuman v. City of Chicago

• Decision Date: 30 November 1982
• Docket Number: No. 81-1703,81-1703
• Citation: 66 Ill.Dec. 700,110 Ill.App.3d 907,443 N.E.2d 626
• Parties: , 66 Ill.Dec. 700 George NEUMAN, as Administrator of the Estate of John J. Neuman, Deceased, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF CHICAGO, a municipal corporation, Philip Onesto, William Sims and Northwest Hospital, a corporation, Defendants, CITY OF CHICAGO, a municipal corporation, Philip Onesto and William Sims, Counter-Plaintiffs, Appellants, v. NORTHWEST HOSPITAL, Counter-Defendant, Appellee.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

Page 626

443 N.E.2d 626

110 Ill.App.3d 907, 66 Ill.Dec. 700

George NEUMAN, as Administrator of the Estate of John J.

Neuman, Deceased, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF CHICAGO, a municipal corporation, Philip Onesto, William Sims and Northwest Hospital, a corporation, Defendants, CITY OF CHICAGO, a municipal corporation, Philip Onesto and William Sims, Counter-Plaintiffs, Appellants, v. NORTHWEST HOSPITAL, Counter-Defendant, Appellee.

No. 81-1703.

Appellate Court of Illinois First District, Second Division.

Nov. 30, 1982.

Stanley Garber, Corp. Counsel of the City of Chicago by Peter Fitzpatrick, Sp. Asst. Corp. Counsel, Chicago (Richard F. Lee, Chicago, of counsel), for counter-plaintiffs, appellants.

Hinshaw, Culbertson, Moelman, Hoban & Fuller, Chicago (Stanley J. Davidson, E. Michael Kelly and John G. Langhenry, Jr., Chicago, of counsel), for counter-defendant, appellee.

HARTMAN, Justice:

The principal issue presented by this appeal is whether defendant, counter-defendant Northwest Hospital " * * * is responsible for the consequences of * * * [its] own wrong, and if * * * [defendant, counter-plaintiff City of Chicago is] compelled to pay damages which ought to have been paid by the * * * [Hospital, the City] may recover from * * * [it]." Gertz v. Campbell (1973), 55 Ill.2d 84, 90, 302 N.E.2d 40.

For the reasons hereinafter set forth, we reverse and remand the cause.

On October 14, 1977, plaintiff, George Neuman, administrator of the Estate of John J. Neuman, Deceased, initiated a three count wrongful death action against the City, two City police officers, Philip Onesto and William Sims (collectively "City"), and the Hospital. Count I was directed against the City and alleged that decedent was handcuffed, arrested, and apprehended by the named officers. The officers, while acting within the scope of their duty as agents of the City, allegedly committed wanton acts of violence in that they: shot the deceased when they knew or should have known that it was totally unnecessary because he was handcuffed; used a gun which contained bullets that had been doctored and altered and thereby intended to inflict excessive destructive injury; and exercised unnecessary violence in shooting the deceased, showing a total disregard for the safety and care of the public. The City was charged further with having failed to discharge Onesto from the police force after having been repeatedly notified of his vicious propensities and the likelihood of inflicting unnecessary and excessive violence on members of the public. Finally, count I alleges that defendants' shooting of the plaintiff's intestate ultimately caused or contributed to his death at the Hospital.

Count II was directed against the Hospital, to which decedent was brought for emergency treatment. In essence, the Hospital was charged with having committed eight specified negligent acts or omissions in connection with the failure to give decedent necessary blood transfusions and other medical care which resulted in his death. Count III repeated the same allegations of medical malpractice asserted in count II but added that these acts were committed "wantonly." Count II prayed for, inter alia, $500,000 in pecuniary damages and punitive damages of $1,000,000. Count III prayed for $1,000,000 in punitive damages.

The Hospital successfully moved to strike the prayers for punitive damages from counts II and III of the complaint on October 15, 1979, and the circuit court ordered that the judgment would not prejudice plaintiff's prayer for compensatory damages.

On March 14, 1981, the City filed a counterclaim against the Hospital, incorporating by reference, inter alia, the same allegations of negligence and wanton misconduct set forth in paragraph 2 of counts II and III, respectively, of the underlying complaint. The counterclaim further alleged that: the specified negligent and wilful acts or omissions alleged against the agents and servants of the Hospital were not committed in concert with the City; the City did not control the activities of the Hospital in connection with these acts; and, but for the Hospital's negligent and wilful acts or omissions, decedent would have recovered from his injuries.

The Hospital moved to dismiss the counterclaim, principally on the basis that the City may not seek equitable apportionment of damages because it was charged with intentional, wilful and wanton conduct by plaintiff. On June 19, 1981, the circuit court granted the Hospital's motion.

A motion to dismiss a counterclaim admits that all facts properly pleaded are true. (City of Chicago v. Loitz (1975), 61 Ill.2d 92, 93, 329 N.E.2d 208; Jackson v. Burlington Northern, Inc. (1980), 84 Ill.App.3d 967, 968, 39 Ill.Dec. 826, 405 N.E.2d 805; American Mut. Reinsurance Co. v. Calvert Fire Ins. Co. (1977), 52 Ill.App.3d 922, 924, 9 Ill.Dec. 670, 367 N.E.2d 104, cert. denied (1978), 436 U.S. 906, 98 S.Ct. 2238, 56 L.Ed.2d 404.) A cause of action should not be dismissed on the pleadings unless it manifestly appears that no set of facts can be proved upon which relief can be granted. (Edgar County Bank & Trust Co. v. Paris Hospital, Inc. (1974), 57 Ill.2d 298, 305, 312 N.E.2d 259.) The City denied all material allegations contained in the underlying complaint and their counterclaim continues to deny these allegations. The City's counterclaim raises allegations against a co-defendant, not against plaintiff. Plaintiff did not join in the Hospital's motion. Under these circumstances and in light of the above-cited principles, the Hospital's contention, that in reviewing the sufficiency of a counterclaim all well pleaded allegations contained in the underlying complaint must also be taken as true, is without merit.

The City maintains that the counterclaim states a valid cause of action for equitable apportionment as established in Gertz v. Campbell, supra, and does not rely on the Illinois Contribution Among Joint Tortfeasors Act ("Act"). (Ill.Rev.Stat.1979, ch 70, par. 301, et seq.) In Gertz, plaintiff alleged that he was injured by defendant's negligent operation of an automobile. Defendant filed a third-party complaint against the physician who treated plaintiff after the accident seeking indemnity for any damages attributable to the physician's malpractice. Applying principles of "conscience," the supreme court allowed the third party complaint to stand, upon the "principle that everyone is responsible for the consequences of his own wrong, and if others have been compelled to pay damages which ought to have been paid by the wrongdoer, they may recover from him." 55 Ill.2d at 90, quoting with approval from Herrero v. Atkinson (1964), 227 Cal.App.2d 69, 74, 38 Cal.Rptr. 490, 493.

The Hospital attempts to distinguish Gertz, in part, on the ground that there the malpracticing physician was not named in the original lawsuit by plaintiff; therefore, the original tortfeasor stood to pay damages for the entire extent of the injury while the physician paid nothing. The Hospital argues that here, because it is a named party, the jury will be asked to return separate verdicts and that the jury will apportion the damages between the City and the Hospital, even without a counterclaim. This distinction fails, however, since the City can be held liable for any mortal injury inflicted by the Hospital whether or not separate verdicts are returned. Chicago City Ry. v. Saxby (1904), 213 Ill. 274, 277, 72 N.E. 755.

More importantly, the Hospital emphasizes that the original tortfeasor in Gertz was alleged to have committed ordinary negligence, but the City here is accused of wilful or intentional misconduct thereby precluding it from seeking equitable apportionment. The Hospital urges that Gertz should not be extended to a City charged with wantonly shooting a handcuffed person with a gun containing bullets intended to inflict excessive destructive injury.

The Hospital correctly asserts that an intentional tortfeasor is without standing to invoke equity and request a court to shift the burden of the loss to another. (Cf. Wanack v. Michels (1905), 215 Ill. 87, 94-95, 74 N.E. 84; Turner v. Kirkwood (10th Cir.1931), 49 F.2d 590, 595-96; Skaja v. Andrews Hotel Co. (1968), 281 Minn. 417, 161 N.W.2d 657, 661.) This court cannot presume, however, that any of the allegations contained in the underlying complaint will be proven, including those alleging that the City acted intentionally. A "wilful or wanton" injury may either have been intentional or the act may have been committed under circumstances exhibiting a reckless disregard for the safety of others. (Hocking v. Rehnquist (1969), 44 Ill.2d 196, 201, 254 N.E.2d 515.) Whether wilful and wanton conduct has been proven in any given case demands close scrutiny of the facts as disclosed by the evidence and, while the rule of law remains constant, the facts to which the law is applied always present unique circumstances. (Lynch v. Board of Education (1980), 82 Ill.2d 415, 430, 45 Ill.Dec. 96, 412 N.E.2d 447.) The City may be found guilty of reckless rather than intentional misconduct, and thereby would have standing to maintain its action for equitable apportionment. Because of the necessity to closely peruse the facts of each case, whether plaintiff has proven intentional wrongdoing on the part of the City must await trial. See O'Brien v. Township High School Dist. 214 (1980), 83 Ill.2d 462, 469, 47 Ill.Dec. 702, 415 N.E.2d 1015; Lynch v. Board of Education, supra.

The Gertz court stressed several factors concerning the relationship...