Inman v. Howe Freightways, Inc.

• Decision Date: 30 May 2019
• Docket Number: No. 1-17-2459,1-17-2459
• Citation: 432 Ill.Dec. 916,2019 IL App (1st) 172459,130 N.E.3d 458
• Parties: Lisa INMAN, Individually and as Administrator of the Estate of Jesse Inman, Deceased, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. HOWE FREIGHTWAYS, INC., an Illinois Corporation; Hiner Transport, LLC, a/k/a Hiner Transport, Inc.; and Hiner Equipment, LLC, Defendants (Howe Freightways, Inc., Defendant-Appellant; and Hiner Transport, LLC, a/k/a Hiner Transport, Inc., Defendant-Appellee).
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

2019 IL App (1st) 172459

130 N.E.3d 458

432 Ill.Dec. 916

Lisa INMAN, Individually and as Administrator of the Estate of Jesse Inman, Deceased, Plaintiff-Appellee,

v. HOWE FREIGHTWAYS, INC., an Illinois Corporation; Hiner Transport, LLC, a/k/a Hiner Transport, Inc.; and Hiner Equipment, LLC, Defendants(Howe Freightways, Inc., Defendant-Appellant;andHiner Transport, LLC, a/k/a Hiner Transport, Inc., Defendant-Appellee).

No. 1-17-2459

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, Fourth Division.

Filed May 30, 2019

Michael Resis and Andrew Seiber, of SmithAmundsen LLC, and Glenn F. Fencl and David M. Macksey, of Johnson & Bell Ltd., both of Chicago, for appellant.

J. Timothy Eaton and Jonathan B. Amarilio, of Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, and Todd A. Smith and Sean M. Houlihan, of Power Rogers & Smith LLP, both of Chicago, for appellee Lisa Inman.

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

¶ 1 As the sun was setting one night in September 2011, James Langholf, a truck driver and employee of Howe Freightways, Inc. (Howe), was driving his semi-tractor trailer west on Interstate 80 in Iowa when he began to have engine trouble. He pulled over to the shoulder of the highway and turned off his vehicle. When Langholf could not restart it, he called Howe, who told him to call the manufacturer of his engine. Eventually, Langholf called a towing company, which dispatched Jesse Inman (Inman) and Daniel Walsh in separate tow trucks to tow Langholf's tractor and his trailer, the latter being the storage compartment for the freight. When Inman and Walsh arrived at the scene, Inman parked in front of Langholf and Walsh parked behind Langholf. Shortly thereafter, a semi-tractor trailer driven by Herbert Terrell, an employee and agent of Hiner Transport, LLC, a/k/a Hiner Transport, Inc., and Hiner Equipment, LLC (collectively, Hiner), sideswiped Walsh's tow truck and collided with the back of Langholf's truck. The force of the collision pushed Langholf's truck into Inman's tow truck, pinning Inman between them. As a result of the collision, all four men died.

¶ 2 Plaintiff Lisa Inman, Inman's widow, initiated this lawsuit on her behalf and his estate against several defendants, including Howe and Hiner, and alleged their negligence caused his death. Ultimately, the case proceeded to trial where a jury found that both Howe and Hiner were liable, apportioning their liability at 57% and 43%, respectively, and awarded plaintiff a multimillion dollar verdict.

¶ 3 On appeal, Howe contends that the trial court erred (1) by denying its motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict where plaintiff failed to present evidence that showed it proximately caused the injuries to Inman; (2) by denying its motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict where the jury's verdict and apportionment of liability was against the manifest weight of the evidence; (3) by granting pretrial discovery sanctions that deemed admitted certain acts by it were negligent; and (4) in its rulings on multiple pretrial motions in limine , including one that barred a witness from testifying that, mere seconds before the accident occurred, Terrell was shirtless but, after the accident, he was wearing a shirt.

¶ 4 Because we find the trial court erred by barring that witness from testifying about his observation of Terrell just seconds before the accident occurred and that evidence, if presented at trial, very likely would have changed the jury's apportionment of liability between Howe and Hiner, we must reverse the jury's verdict and remand this matter for a new trial.

¶ 5 I. BACKGROUND

¶ 6 A. The Complaint

¶ 7 At one point, this lawsuit had several defendants and included multiple counterclaims, but pertinent to this appeal is plaintiff's fourth amended complaint, where she brought wrongful death and survival actions against Howe and Hiner, by and through their former employees, Langholf and Terrell, respectively.

¶ 8 Plaintiff premised her claims against Howe on several alleged negligent acts or omissions, including Howe's failure to properly repair and maintain Langholf's tractor, Howe's failure to ensure that Langholf completed a safety training course after he had been involved in another accident, Langholf's decision to stop his tractor-trailer on the shoulder of the highway rather than continue driving to the next highway exit, Langholf's failure to use reflective warning triangles behind his tractor-trailer, and Howe's failure to promptly contact a towing company to tow Langholf's tractor-trailer from the highway. Plaintiff premised her claims against Hiner on multiple alleged negligent acts or omissions, including Terrell's failure to keep a proper lookout on the highway, failure to reduce his speed as he approached the vehicles on the shoulder of the highway, and his collision with the vehicles. Plaintiff claimed that, as a proximate cause of one or more of these negligent acts or omissions, Inman suffered serious injuries that resulted in his death. Both Howe and Hiner denied that either they or their employees had acted negligently.

¶ 9 B. Pretrial

¶ 10 Three and a half months before trial, plaintiff filed a motion seeking sanctions against Howe for its failure to produce certain training and maintenance records of Langholf and his tractor before the depositions of Howe's former director of safety and maintenance and its successor director of safety and maintenance. Ultimately, the trial court granted sanctions and deemed admitted three allegations of negligence in plaintiff's then-operative third amended complaint, which were that (1) following a preventable accident, Langholf failed to complete a required safety training course, (2) Howe failed to ensure that Langholf complied with its internal policy of completing the safety training course following a preventable accident but before receiving another dispatch, and (3) Howe and Langholf failed to properly maintain his tractor when they improperly replaced the turbo two weeks before the accident, which caused the tractor to become unsafe for highway operation.

¶ 11 Thereafter, plaintiff filed another motion for sanctions against Howe for its failure to preserve Langholf's tractor engine and turbo. Ultimately, the trial court granted new sanctions and deemed admitted the allegation in plaintiff's now-fourth amended complaint that Howe and Langholf failed to properly maintain the tractor engine, including the turbo, which caused it to become unsafe for highway operation in violation of section 396.7(a) of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR) ( 49 C.F.R. § 396.7(a) (2011) ). The court also affirmed the deemed admitted allegations from the first sanctions order concerning the safety training.

¶ 12 In the week before trial, now with the trial judge presiding over the case (Judge Thomas J. Lipscomb), Howe filed a motion to reconsider the imposition of discovery sanctions by the motion judge (Judge James N. O'Hara). The trial judge denied the motion.

¶ 13 The parties also filed several motions in limine , but relevant to this appeal were plaintiff's motion in limine No. 32 and Howe's motions in limine Nos. 35 and 37.

¶ 14 Plaintiff's motion in limine No. 32 sought to bar eyewitness Franklin Green from testifying at trial that Terrell passed him on the highway before the accident and was not wearing a shirt, but after the accident, when Green went to render aid at the scene, he observed that Terrell was pinned in his seat but wearing a shirt. The trial judge granted the motion and barred this testimony.

¶ 15 Howe's motion in limine No. 35 sought, in part, to bar plaintiff's expert witness from offering an opinion that, despite the engine issues, Langholf's truck could have reached the next highway exit. The trial judge denied the motion as it related to this opinion.

¶ 16 Howe's motion in limine No. 37 sought to bar, in part, any assertion that a violation of its purported internal policy requiring a driver to complete a safety training course after a preventable accident but before receiving another dispatch established a standard of care that, if breached, constituted negligence. The trial judge denied the motion as it related to establishing a standard of care, relying on the motion judge's earlier sanctions order that deemed admitted the allegation regarding Howe's failure to ensure that Langholf complied with its internal policy of completing the safety training course.

¶ 17 Before trial, the trial judge determined that a high-low settlement between plaintiff and Hiner was made in good faith and dismissed contribution counterclaims between Howe and Hiner. Additionally, before trial, plaintiff voluntarily dismissed Hiner Equipment, LLC.

¶ 18 C. Trial

¶ 19 1. Commercial Trucking and Regulations

¶ 20 At trial, the evidence revealed that Howe and Hiner, as commercial motor vehicle companies, and Langholf and Terrell, as operators of semi-tractor trailers, were required to follow the FMCSR. Langholf owned his tractor but leased it to Howe pursuant to an agreement, under which Howe became fully responsible for the operation of the tractor. As well, under the FMCSR, Langholf was considered an employee of Howe. Multiple FMCSR regulations were presented at trial.

¶ 21 One regulation prohibited the operation of a motor vehicle in a condition likely to cause an accident or breakdown of the vehicle. However, if that vehicle was discovered to be in an unsafe condition while being operated on the highway, the regulation allowed drivers to continue operating the vehicles until reaching the nearest place where repairs could safely be performed, but only if continuing to operate the vehicle was safer than remaining on the highway. There was unanimous agreement among the trial witnesses concerning this regulation. For one, they agreed the regulation allowed drivers to "limp" their vehicle forward, meaning if they had an issue with their engine, but still had power, they could continue driving but at...