Krywin v. Chicago Transit Auth.

• Decision Date: 29 August 2010
• Docket Number: No. 108888.,108888.
• Parties: Marianna KRYWIN, Appellant, v. The CHICAGO TRANSIT AUTHORITY, Appellee.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

938 N.E.2d 440 238 Ill.2d 215 345 Ill.Dec. 1 Marianna KRYWIN, Appellant, v. The CHICAGO TRANSIT AUTHORITY, Appellee. No. 108888. Supreme Court of Illinois. July 15, 2010. As Modified Upon Denial of Rehearing Aug. 29, 2010.

Joseph G. Ryan, Lawrence G. Gordon, Gordon & Centracchio, L.L.C., Chicago, for appellant.

Kent S. Ray, of Chicago, (Brad Jansen, Stephen L. Wood, of counsel), for appellee.

Stephen H. Pugh, Preston L. Pugh, Rebecca D. Fuentes, of Pugh, Jones, Johnson & Quandt, P.C., of Chicago, for amicus curiae Metra.

Michael D. Carter, Joseph V. Healy, of Horwitz, Horwitz & Associates, of Chicago, for amicus curiae Ill. Trial lawyers Ass'n.

Michael Resis, of SmithAmundsen, L.L.C., Jason C. Lewis, of Nyhan, Bambrick, Kinzie & Lowry, P.C., all of Chicago, for amicus curiae Ill. Ass'n of Defense Council.

[345 Ill.Dec. 3, 238 Ill.2d 217]

OPINION

Justice GARMAN delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

In June 2005, plaintiff, Marianna Krywin, filed a two-count complaint in the circuit court of Cook County against defendant, Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), stemming from an injury she suffered while alighting from one of the CTA's trains onto the southbound platform at Sheridan Road in Chicago. A jury rendered a verdict in plaintiff's favor. The appellate court reversed. 391 Ill.App.3d 663, 330 Ill.Dec. 865, 909 N.E.2d 887.

BACKGROUND

Count I of plaintiff's amended complaint alleged that on January 13, 2005, she was riding the CTA's red line train. The train stopped at an elevated train station. As plaintiff exited the train, she slipped on snow and water on the platform and fell, injuring her left leg. Plaintiff alleged that the CTA had a duty to exercise ordinary care in the operation, supervision, and maintenance of the area of ingress and egress where plaintiff fell and that the CTA negligently failed in its duty. In count II, plaintiff alleged that the CTA had a duty to exercise the highest degree of care in the operation of its trains and in the maintenance of the train stations and alleged that the CTA was guilty of willful and wanton conduct in failing to fulfill that duty.

The cause proceeded to a jury trial in October 2007. Darren Hill, security customer assistance controller for the CTA, testified that he received a call from CTA personnel regarding plaintiff's injury. Hill prepared a report of the incident. The report states that plaintiff slipped and fell on the southbound Sheridan Road platform and that she was transported to the hospital by fire emergency personnel.

[938 N.E.2d 443, 345 Ill.Dec. 4]

Anthony Morales, a rail maintenance worker for the CTA, testified that his duties include maintaining the train platforms. He removes any ice or snow from the platform and then spreads sand across the entire platform. In January 2005, the Sheridan Road station was one of the stations to which he was assigned. He did not recall the weather conditions on the date of the accident or whether he removed any snow or ice from the southbound platform that day. However, based upon his routine, he would have been to the Sheridan Road station that morning, unless there was a bad storm that would have delayed him in getting to the Sheridan Road station. There is a small canopy at that station, which covers less than half of the platform.

Daniel Ivankovich, the orthopedic surgeon who treated plaintiff's injury, testified by evidence deposition. When he first saw plaintiff in the emergency room, she told him that she had slipped and fallen on ice. Plaintiff had a swelling and deformity of her lower extremity and the left ankle. She had a fracture of the tibia and fibula bones in her left leg. She was in a great deal of pain when Dr. Ivankovich first saw her. In explaining how plaintiff fractured her leg, Dr. Ivankovich stated that the tibia and fibula bones distally create the ankle joint. There is a very complex series of ligaments in that area. Plaintiff has a condition called osteopenia, which is thinning of the bones. The ligaments were much stronger than the bone and she ended up with a "pilon, a spiral fracture, which more than likely meant that she planted her foot, rotated and the bone gave. The force was sufficient that the ligaments didn't tear, but the actual bone fractured." Dr. Ivankovich performed surgery to repair the fracture. Plaintiff was hospitalized for nearly a month.

The discovery deposition of Ruben Bonner was read to the jury in his absence. Bonner testified that he is a rapid transit operator for the CTA and was operating the red line train on the date of the accident. After passengers got on and off the train at the Sheridan Road station, someone said a woman had fallen. He left the train and observed plaintiff on her hands and knees on the platform. He did not recall which car plaintiff had exited or whether there was a canopy over the area of the platform where she fell. There were eight cars on the train that day and plaintiff was closer to the rear of the train. Bonner did not recall whether it was snowing when he pulled the train into the station, but it had snowed previously and it was cold. The surface of the platform was wet and icy. He did not observe any snow on it or any sand or salt.

Patricia Majors was the next witness. At the time of the accident, she was a student at DePaul University. She rode the red line train frequently to get to work and school and was familiar with the Sheridan Road station. The southbound platform has a very small canopy on the north end of the platform. On the date of the accident, she was waiting at the southbound platform to get on the train. It was raining and very cold. The entire platform was icy. She observed plaintiff exit the train and, as soon as she stepped off the train, she fell to the ground. Majors and another person gave plaintiff their coats, as it was raining and plaintiff was lying on snow and ice. Majors waited with plaintiff until the paramedics arrived. Majors had ridden the train the two days before the accident. During that time, she was on the platform from 5 to 15 minutes at a time waiting for the train. The weather had been rainy and cold, and it was icy and slushy on those days. The sidewalks were filled with slush that was over the top of her shoes. The southbound

[345 Ill.Dec. 5, 938 N.E.2d 444]

platform where plaintiff fell was icy that day. There was no sand or salt on the platform and there was no room to step around the ice. The ice was about one-tenth of an inch thick. Based on the thickness of the ice, it did not appear to Majors that any work had been done with respect to the icy conditions.

Plaintiff testified through an interpreter. She is 76 years old and came to Chicago from Poland. She formerly worked as a nurse. On the date of the accident, she exited the train, putting one foot down and then the other one and it was slippery and she "went backwards." Prior to that day, she had no trouble walking and did not use any walking aid. That morning, there was a little bit of snow falling and there was a lot of snow on the platform. When she exited the train, she made one step with her right foot into the snow and then she stepped with her left foot and "then I, you know, I went—I had fallen backwardsand then I was screaming from pain." She was unable to get up and then, later, two men appeared with a stretcher.

The parties stipulated to the testimony of Theresa Williams, a customer service agent for the CTA. She was assigned to the Sheridan Road station on the date of the accident. She prepared two reports for the CTA as the result of plaintiff's accident. Williams did not recall the weather conditions on the day of the accident or the previous day. Nor did she recall the condition of the platform on those days. She would also testify that the CTA red line train ran 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in January 2005. Williams' reports were read to the jury. The reports identified "sleet" and "foggy" as the weather conditions on the day of the accident and "wet" as the condition of the area where plaintiff fell. Williams indicated that plaintiff was exiting the fifth car of the train when she slipped and fell. Williams responded to the customer assistance bell at 9:55 a.m. on the day of the accident. When Williams arrived at the platform, plaintiff was complaining of her leg hurting and possibly being broken.

The trial court read an admission by the CTA to the jury, which was based upon the CTA's answer to a request to admit from plaintiff. Prior to reading the admission, the court admonished the jury that the admission was not to be considered evidence of negligence, but only as circumstantial evidence of what may or may not have happened on the date of the accident. The admission was that on and before the date of the accident, it was the CTA's policy to spread sand on the train platforms after removal of snow and ice.

At the close of plaintiff's evidence, the CTA presented a motion for directed verdict. The motion alleged that, as a matter of law, the CTA had no duty to remove a natural accumulation of ice and snow and no duty to warn of such an accumulation. The CTA further argued thatplaintiff had presented no evidence that there was any unnatural accumulation of ice or snow on the platform. The CTA argued that there was no evidence that it had maintained the platform in a negligent or reckless manner. Thus, according to the CTA, plaintiff failed to make a prima facie case of either negligence or willful and wanton conduct.

Plaintiff's attorney argued that the CTA had a duty to remove natural accumulations of ice from its platforms to provide a safe method of ingress and egress from its trains. Counsel argued that, regardless, there was evidence that there was some snow removal by the CTA and that it was done in a negligent manner. Counsel referred to the testimony from Majors that the sidewalks where Majors walked were filled with slush, but the train platform was a sheet of ice.

[938 N.E.2d 445, 345...