Skelton v. Chicago Transit Authority

• Decision Date: 17 May 1991
• Docket Number: 1-89-2359,Nos. 1-89-2258,s. 1-89-2258
• Citation: 214 Ill.App.3d 554,573 N.E.2d 1315
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois
• Parties: , 158 Ill.Dec. 130 Joseph SKELTON, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. CHICAGO TRANSIT AUTHORITY, a municipal corporation, Defendant-Appellant. First District, Sixth Division

Page 1315

573 N.E.2d 1315

214 Ill.App.3d 554, 158 Ill.Dec. 130

Joseph SKELTON, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. CHICAGO TRANSIT AUTHORITY, a municipal corporation,

Defendant-Appellant.

Nos. 1-89-2258, 1-89-2359.

Appellate Court of Illinois,

First District, Sixth Division.

May 17, 1991.

Rehearing Denied June 27, 1991.

William H. Farley, Jr., Gen. Atty., Chicago Transit Authority and Flynn Murphy & Ryan, Chicago, for defendant-appellant.

Martin J. Healy Jr. & Associates and William J. Harte, Ltd., Chicago (Martin J. Healey, Jr., William J. Harte and Joan M. Mannix, of counsel), for plaintiff-appellee.

Justice LaPORTA delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff, Joseph Skelton, brought an action seeking recovery for personal injuries sustained when he fell from a station platform and was struck by an oncoming train owned and operated by defendant, Chicago Transit Authority (CTA). Following trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of plaintiff for $7,824,655, but reduced the award of damages by 70% to $2,347,396 based upon plaintiff's contributory negligence. Defendant has appealed from the judgment entered on the jury's verdict, and plaintiff has filed a separate appeal on the jury's determination of plaintiff's comparative fault.

On appeal, defendant CTA contends that (1) the trial court erroneously instructed the jury that defendant owed plaintiff a duty of the highest degree of care; (2) the trial court abused its discretion in excluding evidence of plaintiff's consumption of alcohol prior to the incident; (3) the trial court erred in allowing evidence of willful and wanton entrustment of a CTA train based upon the prior work record of the motorman; (4) the trial court erred in excluding evidence that plaintiff had filed two prior complaints which made no claim that a previous train had failed to stop at the Oak Park Avenue station or that the train which struck plaintiff had failed to stop at the Harlem Avenue station; (5) the trial court improperly permitted testimony as to the extent of future medical costs to maintain plaintiff's artificial arm; (6) the trial court erred in permitting plaintiff to examine two CTA employees as adverse witnesses; and (7) the trial court improperly allowed the introduction of inflammatory and speculative testimony about plaintiff's intention to become an electrician in the future.

Plaintiff contends that (1) the jury's determination that plaintiff's comparative fault amounted to 70% was against the manifest weight of the evidence; (2) improper comments by defense counsel during closing argument denied plaintiff a fair trial; (3) the trial court erred in allowing defendant to present evidence of commendations previously received by the motorman of the train which struck plaintiff; (4) the court's order in limine excluding witnesses was violated by a conversation between two CTA employees during a recess in the trial; and (5) the trial court erred in refusing plaintiff's tender of Illinois Pattern Jury Instruction 5.01.

Statement of Facts

Plaintiff's complaint, as finally amended, alleged that he suffered personal injuries purportedly caused by the negligence and willful and wanton conduct of the defendant. Specifically, plaintiff claimed that he was injured when he was struck by an oncoming CTA train after falling from the station platform located at Oak Park Avenue on the Congress line of the CTA in the Village of Oak Park, Illinois. Plaintiff alleged that defendant owed him a duty of "the highest degree of care."

Count I of plaintiff's amended complaint asserted that defendant was negligent in failing to prevent its agents from passing through the Oak Park Avenue station without stopping; operating its trains on Runs 130 and 222 at an excessive rate of speed; failing to keep a proper lookout for persons waiting for trains; failing to give plaintiff proper warning that both trains were approaching the Oak Park Avenue station; failing to slow the trains as they approached the Oak Park Avenue station; failing to stop the train on Run 222 to avoid a collision with plaintiff; designing the passenger platform so that the waiting area was too narrow; and failing to provide plaintiff with a clear view of approaching trains.

Count II asserted that defendant was guilty of willful and wanton conduct by operating the trains on Runs 130 and 222 Count III asserted that defendant was guilty of willful and wanton conduct by entrusting its train to motorman Albert Kemnitz without adequately instructing him in the safe operation of the train; entrusting its train to Kemnitz when it knew or should have known, based upon Kemnitz' prior work record, that to do so might or could cause injury to members of the public; entrusting its train to Kemnitz without adequate supervision when it knew or should have known that to do so might or could cause injury to members of the public.

[158 Ill.Dec. 136] for a long distance at an excessive rate of speed when it knew or should have known of the dangers to passengers on CTA platforms; failing to prevent its agents from passing through the Oak Park Avenue station on Run 130 without stopping; failing to stop the train on Run 222 at the Harlem Avenue station despite the fact that it was a scheduled stop; approaching the Oak Park Avenue station with the trains on Runs 130 and 222 at an excessive rate of speed when they knew or should have known that to do so might or could cause injury to plaintiff; approached the Oak Park Avenue station with the train on Run 222 at an excessive rate of speed and without intent to make a scheduled stop; failing to reduce the speed of the trains on Runs 130 and 222 and failing to warn plaintiff of the approach of the trains through a horn signal when it knew or should have known that failure to do so might or could cause injury to the plaintiff; and failing to operate the train on Run 222 in such a manner as to avoid a collision with the plaintiff.

Defendant's answer to plaintiff's amended complaint denied that it owed plaintiff a duty of "the highest degree of care," denied the allegations of negligent and of willful and wanton conduct, and asserted as affirmative defenses that the negligence of the plaintiff in falling off the platform onto the tracks and into the path of the train was the proximate cause of his injuries, and that plaintiff's consumption of alcoholic beverages resulted in an impairment of his mental and physical faculties and was a contributing factor in the plaintiff's conduct which resulted in his injuries.

Prior to trial, the trial court entered certain orders disposing of various motions in limine brought by both parties. These orders included rulings which (1) excluded any evidence indicating that plaintiff had consumed alcoholic beverages prior to the accident; (2) excluded introduction of any documents which had not been produced to the other party during pretrial discovery; and (3) excluded from the proceedings witnesses who were to be called to testify.

The evidence adduced at trial established that the Congress line of the CTA runs from Des Plaines Avenue, through downtown Chicago, and on to Jefferson Park. From Des Plaines Avenue to downtown, the train tracks run adjacent to the Congress (Eisenhower) expressway. As the line proceeds east, the first stop after Des Plaines Avenue is Harlem Avenue, the second is Oak Park Avenue, the third is Austin Avenue, and the fourth is cicero Avenue. There are a total of 29 stops on the Congress line, and every one is a designated stop. Each train is required to stop at each station unless given a direct order from the CTA control center. Each station is equipped with berthing marks which indicate the proper stopping place for the train, depending upon the number of cars in the train. The CTA rules require that a motorman stop at all designated stops unless otherwise ordered. The rules also require that motormen look ahead, be constantly alert for any condition which may cause injury or damage, and be ready to bring their trains to an immediate stop.

Train crews are assigned to runs, and a run assignment indicates the schedule the train must maintain. Run 130 on the Congress line is scheduled to leave Des Plaines Avenue at 1:12 a.m. and to arrive at Jefferson Park at 1:51 a.m. Run 222 is scheduled to depart Des Plaines Avenue at 1:41 a.m. and is scheduled to arrive at Jefferson Park at 2:20 1/2 a.m. Run 222 is always a two-car train, and the approximate time difference between Run 130 and Run 222 is 29 minutes.

Each train runs through time check points, by which the control center can monitor the operation of each train. The CTA keeps a record of each train's progress through these time check points. These records, called Esterline charts, are retained by the CTA for one and one-half to two years.

Plaintiff testified that on June 16, 1981, he and Jacqueline Gullo, now his wife, went to a tavern and blues club to listen to music with some friends. Plaintiff and Gullo rode a westbound train on the CTA's Congress line to the Oak Park Avenue station, walked approximately eight blocks, and met their friends at the blues club at about 10 p.m.

The two remained at the blues club listening to music for approximately 2 1/2 hours. Prior to trial, plaintiff admitted that he had consumed three beers while at the club, but the trial court's order in limine precluded introduction of this evidence at trial.

Plaintiff and Gullo walked back to the Oak Park Avenue CTA station and arrived at about 1 a.m. on June 17, 1981. The two walked onto the train platform and sat down on the bench situated within the windbreak. There was no ticket agent on duty, but an illuminated sign read "Board Here, Please Pay on Train." Plaintiff and Gullo were the only people on the train platform, and the platform was clean and dry.

Plaintiff testified further that after he and Gullo had been waiting for about 25 minutes, an eastbound train passed through the station without...