Douglas v. Arlington Park Racecourse, LLC

• Decision Date: 29 June 2018
• Docket Number: No. 1–16–2962,1–16–2962
• Citation: 2018 IL App (1st) 162962,426 Ill.Dec. 896,117 N.E.3d 313
• Parties: Rene DOUGLAS and Natalia Douglas, Plaintiffs–Appellees, v. ARLINGTON PARK RACECOURSE, LLC, and Churchill Downs, Inc., Defendants–Appellants.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

2018 IL App (1st) 162962

117 N.E.3d 313

426 Ill.Dec. 896

Rene DOUGLAS and Natalia Douglas, Plaintiffs–Appellees,

v.ARLINGTON PARK RACECOURSE, LLC, and Churchill Downs, Inc., Defendants–Appellants.

No. 1–16–2962

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, FOURTH DIVISION.

June 29, 2018

JUSTICE ELLIS delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

¶ 1 This appeal primarily revolves around a single question: is the sole proximate cause theory and jury instruction available in a negligence action if a defendant argues more than one nonparty actor was the sole proximate cause of plaintiff's injury?

¶ 2 I

¶ 3 Plaintiff Rene Douglas (Rene) was a professional jockey. In 2009, Rene was paralyzed from the chest down after falling from his horse during a race at Arlington Park racecourse (Arlington Park). He suffered a "traumatic flexion compression," which caused a burst fracture of his T5 vertebrae. This fracture caused an impingement or occlusion of the spinal cord, resulting in permanent paralysis. Rene and his wife sued Arlington Park Racecourse, LLC; Churchill Downs, Inc. (Churchill Downs); Martin Collins Surfaces and Footings, LLC (Martin Collins); and Keeneland Ventures, PT. LLC (Keeneland Ventures).

¶ 4 Arlington Park Racecourse, LLC, owns and operates Arlington Park. Churchill Downs owns Arlington Park Racecourse, LLC. Martin Collins is the developer and manufacturer of a synthetic horse racing surface known as Polytrack. Keeneland Ventures is a Polytrack distributor.

¶ 5 At the time of trial, the only remaining defendants were Arlington Park Racecourse, LLC, and Churchill Downs. Plaintiffs settled and dismissed their products liability claims against Martin Collins and Keeneland Ventures.

¶ 6 Arlington Park has a Polytrack surface. The track is maintained using a rototiller, a power harrow, and a Gallop Master. The rototiller and power harrow loosen and mix the track surface. The Gallop Master is used to create an even, uniform surface. The rototiller and power harrow are used as necessary, typically prior to race days. The Gallop Master is used between nearly every, if not every, race in order to even the racing surface.

¶ 7 The Polytrack's maintenance is managed by Arlington Park's track superintendent. Arlington Park's personnel were trained to maintain the Polytrack by Martin Collins, the manufacturer. The training consisted of visiting other racetracks with the Polytrack surface and having the opportunity to practice with the rototiller, power harrow, and Gallop Master. Martin Collins also provided a manual with recommendations and recommended equipment.

¶ 8 Plaintiffs did not blame Rene's fall on the track. Plaintiffs' theory at trial was that Rene's injury was caused by defendants' negligent maintenance of the Polytrack, which should have better protected a falling jockey. Plaintiffs' experts opined that Rene's injuries were caused because, after falling, Rene "pocketed" into the Polytrack due to an unsafe dynamic shear angle. "Dynamic shear angle" measures downward versus horizontal movement across a surface. Dynamic shear angles are measured in either degrees or radians. A low dynamic shear angle means that an object will slide across a surface at impact, whereas a high dynamic shear angle means that an object sticks, or "pockets," into the surface. For example, at a 90–degree angle (1.57 radians), the object will impart all of its force straight downward and there will be no horizontal movement. Dr. Kumar opined that the safe range for horserace tracks is 0.25–0.95 radians. He testified that an angle above 0.95 radians creates an unsafe risk because it imparts much more of the force of the collision into the impacting object instead of dissipating it.

¶ 9 According to Plaintiffs' experts, at the time of Rene's injuries, Arlington Park's Polytrack had a dynamic shear angle of 1.2 to 1.3 radians, causing pocketing. This pocketing effect caused an increased load on Rene's T5 vertebrae, which resulted in its catastrophic failure and Rene's paralysis. Plaintiffs argued that defendants negligently failed to monitor and correct this unsafe dynamic shear angle, and that this negligence was a proximate cause of Rene's injury.

¶ 10 Defendants, for their part, raised four arguments: (1) they were not negligent in maintaining the track because they followed the instructions in the Martin Collins manual about maintaining the Polytrack; (2) there was nothing wrong with the track; it did not cause Rene's injury; (3) if they were negligent, they were not liable because the actions of another jockey racing that day, Jaime Theriot, was the sole proximate cause of Rene's injury; and (4) if they were negligent in maintaining the track, it was the negligence of Martin Collins, in failing to apprise defendants about the proper maintenance of the track, that was the sole proximate cause of Rene's injury. (This fourth alleged argument is the subject of dispute; plaintiffs insist that defendants raised this argument, while defendants say they did not.)

¶ 11 As to their claim that the track did not cause Rene's injury, one of defendants' experts opined that the most important factor for a safe racing surface is consistency.

According to this expert, the dynamic shear angle affects a horse's gait. A horse can adapt its gait to a high dynamic shear angle, but unlike a human, a horse cannot adapt its gait with each step. Instead, a horse alters its gait gradually, over a number of steps. Thus, a consistent track, even one with a high dynamic shear angle, is the primary safety concern, because the horse will have adapted its gait to high dynamic shear angle without the need to adjust its gait while in stride.

¶ 12 Defendants' experts further testified that there is no measurable difference between the dynamic shear angle of a dirt track and the hard middle layer of Polytrack. According to expert testimony, Rene hit the Polytrack at about a 22–degree angle. This angle would have precluded a pocketing effect due to his forward momentum. Further, the injuries Rene sustained were not consistent with the pocketing phenomenon and were indicative of a high energy bending injury. Two of defendants' experts opined that there would have been no discernible difference in Rene's injury if the accident had occurred on dirt versus the Polytrack.

¶ 13 Regarding the conduct of the other jockey, Theriot, defendants' expert testified that Rene's accident was caused when the horse jockeyed by Theriot "clipped" Rene's horse during the race. Due to a horse's gait, when their front legs are extended forward, their back legs are extended backwards. "Clipping" occurs when a leading horse's back legs contact a trailing horse's front legs. The most common result is that the rear horse falls—which, according to Defendants' expert, is what caused Rene's accident.

¶ 14 On the subject of the Martin Collins manual, defense witnesses repeatedly testified that the manual did not mention "dynamic shear angle" or "vertical load." At the time of Rene's accident, Ricardo Malagon was the track superintendent. Malagon had recently taken over from his mentor, Javier Barajas. Malagon testified that he was not aware of the terms "vertical load" and "dynamic shear angle." Barajas testified that he was familiar with the concepts but did not measure them, or conduct maintenance to control them, because the Martin Collins manual did not say it was necessary to do so.

¶ 15 At the jury instruction conference, defendants requested that the trial court give a sole proximate cause instruction. Plaintiffs objected. The trial court agreed with defendants and instructed the jury using the long form of Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions, Civil, No. 12.04 (approved Dec. 8, 2011) (hereinafter IPI Civil No. 12.04 ).

¶ 16 The long form of IPI Civil No. 12.04, given by the trial court, stated:

"More than one person may be to blame for causing an injury. If you decide that the defendants were negligent and that their negligence was a proximate cause of injury to the plaintiffs, it is not a defense that some third person who is not a party to the suit may also have been to blame.

However, if you decide that the sole proximate cause of injury to the plaintiff was the conduct of some other person other than the defendant, then your verdict should be for the defendant."

¶ 17 In addition to the sole proximate cause instruction embodied in the second paragraph of IPI Civil No. 12.04, the court allowed defendants to issue a special interrogatory, which asked: "On the date of the accident and at the time and place of the accident in question in this case was the conduct of some person other than the defendants the sole proximate cause of the plaintiffs' injuries? [Yes or No]."

¶ 18 The jury returned a verdict in favor of defendants and answered "yes" to the special interrogatory. Plaintiffs filed a posttrial motion arguing, in part, that the trial court erred in allowing the sole proximate cause issue to go before the jury—both in the form of the jury instruction on sole proximate cause and via the special interrogatory.

¶ 19 The trial court agreed with plaintiffs and granted a new trial. The trial court reasoned that the fact that defendants introduced evidence of two alternative proximate causes (the negligence of the jockey, Theriot, as well as the negligence of Martin Collins, the manufacturer of the Polytrack surface) precluded them from arguing that Theriot's conduct was the sole proximate cause of Rene's injuries. Further, the trial court found that the special interrogatory's reference to "some person other than defendants" was ambiguous. Instead, the trial court reasoned, the "special interrogatory should have been specific as to whose conduct the jury was to consider." Accordingly, the trial court held that the special interrogatory "was vague" and that, "coupled with the sole proximate cause instruction [it] was improper and should not have been given in the form as worded." The court concluded that "[t]...