Brandon v. Bonell
| Decision Date | 23 October 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 2-05-0802.,2-05-0802. |
| Citation | 858 N.E.2d 465,306 Ill.Dec. 668 |
| Parties | Brian A. BRANDON and Jeffrey Miller, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Paul BONELL, Jan Freil, and Marvin Williams, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
Barbara J. Clinite, Chicago, for Brian A. Brandon, Jeffrey Miller.
Lisa Madigan, Attorney General, Gary S. Feinerman, Solicitor General, John P. Schmidt, Assistant Attorney General, Chicago, for Paul Bonell, Jan Freil, Marvin Williams.
Plaintiffs, Brian A. Brandon and Jeffrey Miller, appeal from a July 25, 2005, order declaring that the circuit court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over plaintiffs' claims. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.
I. BACKGROUND
On December 31, 1996, plaintiffs were inmates at the Dixon Correctional Center (Dixon) and were assigned to work in the Dixon kitchen. Defendants, Paul Bonell, Jan Freil, and Marvin Williams, are employees of the Illinois Department of Corrections, assigned to manage the Dixon kitchen. On December 31, 1996, Bonell was the dietary manager of the kitchen, Williams was a supervisor of kitchen operations, and Freil supervised inmate workers. On December 10, 1999, plaintiffs filed a complaint in circuit court, alleging that defendants had breached their duty to plaintiffs, pursuant to section 3-7-3 of the Unified Code of Corrections (730 ILCS 5/3-7-3(a) (West 1996)), to maintain the kitchen facilities and provide plaintiffs with a reasonably safe workplace. Plaintiffs alleged that as a result of this breach, plaintiffs were injured on December 31, 1996. In their complaint, plaintiffs alleged the following facts.
On December 31, 1996, Freil, Williams, and plaintiffs were working together in the Dixon kitchen. Prior to that date, Bonell had instructed Freil and Williams to have the inmates dispose of hot grease in the kitchen as soon as possible. Accordingly, on the date in question, Williams and Freil instructed plaintiffs to remove a heavy, 15- to 20-gallon vat of hot grease from the kitchen and dump it in an area outside. At the time, the grease in the vat was extremely hot, approximately 350 degrees. In order to dispose of the grease, plaintiffs placed the vat on a cart and pulled it outside onto a dock. Approximately 24 feet from the dock, there was a hose that had been running water onto the ground for some time and had caused ice to form. As plaintiffs carried the hot grease from the dock to the area where they were to dump it, Brandon slipped on the ice, and the hot grease spilled on plaintiffs. As a result, Brandon sustained burns and serious injuries, and Miller sustained burns on his hand.
On March 29, 2000, defendants filed a motion to dismiss plaintiffs' complaint, pursuant to section 2-615 of the Code of Civil Procedure (the Code) (735 ILCS 5/2-615 (West 2000)). Defendants argued that plaintiffs' complaint failed to state a cause of action upon which relief could be granted, because the claims against defendants were barred by the principles of absolute immunity, sovereign immunity, and public officials' immunity. Defendants argued, in part, that because they were acting in the scope of their state employment, in a sphere that was under their exclusive control, the Court of Claims had exclusive jurisdiction over plaintiffs' claims. On August 11, 2000, after hearing argument from both parties, Judge Tomas M. Magdich, the trial judge assigned to the case, denied defendants' motion to dismiss. On October 13, 2000, defendants filed their answer to plaintiffs' complaint, and they raised the foregoing immunities as affirmative defenses.
On October 18, 2002, defendants filed a motion for summary judgment pursuant to sections 2-1005(b) and (c) of the Code (735 ILCS 5/2-1005(b), (c) (West 2000)). In their motion, defendants again argued that because defendants were being sued within the scope of their state employment in a prison kitchen, they were protected by the principles of sovereign and absolute immunity. Defendants further asserted that because the suit was against State employees, the Court of Claims had exclusive jurisdiction and the circuit court lacked subject matter jurisdiction. Defendants did not raise the defense of public officials' immunity in their motion for summary judgment, as they had in their motion to dismiss. Attached to defendants' motion for summary judgment were excerpts from defendants' depositions.
In his deposition, Freil testified that on December 31, 1996, he and Williams were supervising the kitchen. Freil explained that after the fish were cooked that day, he told plaintiffs to empty the grease from the fryers into vats and to take the vats to the back door. Freil denied ever telling plaintiffs to empty the vats on the dock. Freil agreed that there was no written procedure for disposing of the grease, but stated that the normal procedure was to let the grease cool in the vat by the door and to check if the vat was hot before emptying it. However, Freil stated, it was understood that the vats were to be emptied by the end of the shift.
Bonell also briefly discussed in his deposition the events of December 31, 1996. Bonell stated that he was the food manager of the Dixon kitchen and that he delegated to his staff the authority to oversee the inmates who worked in the kitchen. Bonell testified that on December 31, 1996, he had requested that the maintenance staff clean off the dock behind the kitchen. Bonell said that although maintenance personnel usually made rounds of the facility, he made a special request that the dock be cleaned off because of the weather; however, he did not say what the weather was like that day. In addition to discussing the events of December 31, 1996, Bonell specifically explained the kitchen policy on grease removal. The policy was to leave the grease to cool for two to three hours before taking it out. However, Bonell agreed that there were security concerns that encouraged the kitchen staff to remove the grease quickly. Bonell stated that inmates would steal the grease for bartering or use it to cook in their cells and that there was a danger the hot grease could be used to injure staff members.
In their depositions, defendants were asked to identify the differences between working in a correctional facility kitchen and working in a restaurant kitchen. Freil testified that there were many differences, because everything in the correctional facility kitchen had to be locked up and secured to prevent trading and trafficking. Freil noted that in a professional kitchen "on the street," the deep fryer grease is not changed after every use like in the correctional facility kitchen, because in a correctional facility there is a danger that inmates will steal the grease and barter with it or use it to harm staff members. In their depositions, Williams and Bonell also acknowledged the security concerns associated with working in a prison kitchen. Bonell said that because of theft and safety concerns in a correctional facility, grease could not be stored outside, as in a restaurant kitchen. However, Bonell also acknowledged that nothing about the correctional facility setting prevented kitchen workers from allowing the grease to cool before it was removed.
On November 22, 2002, plaintiffs filed their response to defendants' motion for summary judgment. In their response, plaintiffs argued that because the duty defendants breached was not unique to their state employment, defendants were not entitled to the protections of sovereign immunity, and the Court of Claims does not have exclusive jurisdiction. Plaintiffs also disputed defendants' claims of absolute immunity. Attached to defendants' motion was the deposition of Ralph McKenzie.
In his deposition, McKenzie testified that he was an inmate at Dixon from about 1995 to 1998, and that he was working in the kitchen at Dixon on December 31, 1996. On that day, McKenzie was working as a cook on the second shift, which ran from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. McKenzie said that Brandon was also working the second shift and was assigned to work in the kitchen. McKenzie was a cook on the serving line in the front of the kitchen and was not in any way involved with cleaning the fryers. McKenzie said that while he was on the serving line, he heard one of the kitchen supervisors shout to Brandon and one or two other inmates in the kitchen to go dump the grease from the fryers. McKenzie noted that there was a rush to get everything cleaned that night, because it was almost the end of the shift. McKenzie testified he did not see the grease vat taken out or emptied, but he later heard the vat fall and heard two men holler. He and others then ran to the back of the kitchen and he saw that Brandon and another man had spilled the grease on the steps. McKenzie saw that the grease had soaked through Brandon's coat, and he saw hot vapors rising from the grease on Brandon's body. McKenzie also observed that Brandon had been carrying hot pads to move the vat. McKenzie said that he knew there was someone else hurt with Brandon, but McKenzie did not see him or know how badly he was hurt.
McKenzie described the scene of the accident. He said that outside of the kitchen door there was a dock area that extended approximately six feet to about six or seven steps. McKenzie said the grease spill was at the bottom of the steps. At the bottom of the steps, the ground leveled off. A large grease bin and a Dumpster were located in the back of this area. McKenzie explained that the temperature had dropped that day, between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., but he saw no snow at the scene of the accident. McKenzie said that although he could not see ice on the stairs, he knew it was there, because the painted concrete got very slippery even if there was just water on it.
McKenzie stated that the...
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