Torres v. Peoria Park Dist.

• Decision Date: 26 February 2020
• Docket Number: Appeal No. 3-19-0248
• Citation: 2020 IL App (3d) 190248,166 N.E.3d 802,445 Ill.Dec. 372
• Parties: Michael T. TORRES and Jaimie Gibson, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. The PEORIA PARK DISTRICT, d/b/a Camp Wokanda, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

2020 IL App (3d) 190248

166 N.E.3d 802

445 Ill.Dec. 372

Michael T. TORRES and Jaimie Gibson, Plaintiffs-Appellants,

v.The PEORIA PARK DISTRICT, d/b/a Camp Wokanda, Defendant-Appellee.

Appeal No. 3-19-0248

Appellate Court of Illinois, Third District.

Opinion filed February 26, 2020

Scott B. Gibson and John R. Steigauf, of Gibson Steigauf, of Waukegan, for appellants.

Adam P. Chaddock, of Quinn, Johnston, Henderson, Pretorius & Cerulo, of Peoria, and Edward F. Dutton, of Lisle, for appellee.

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

¶ 1 Plaintiffs, Michael T. Torres and Jaimie Gibson, filed a second amended complaint against defendant, the Peoria Park District, alleging they sustained injuries that were proximately caused by defendant's willful and wanton conduct. Defendant filed a motion to dismiss the plaintiffs' second amended complaint, which the trial court granted with prejudice.

Plaintiffs appealed. We reverse the trial court's order granting defendant's motion to dismiss and remand for further proceedings.

¶ 2 FACTS

¶ 3 On August 26, 2017, plaintiffs, Michael Torres and Jaimie Gibson, allegedly sustained injuries at a campground owned by defendant, the Peoria Park District. On December 18, 2017, plaintiffs filed a complaint against the Peoria Park District for damages, which was dismissed without prejudice. Thereafter, plaintiffs filed an amended complaint, which was also dismissed without prejudice. On June 22, 2018, plaintiffs filed a second amended complaint against the park district for damages.

¶ 4 In count I (regarding the injuries of Michael Torres) and in count II (regarding the injuries of Jaimie Gibson) of the second amended complaint, plaintiffs alleged that the park district had engaged in willful and wanton conduct that proximately caused their injuries. Specifically, plaintiffs alleged the park district "owned, operated, maintained, and patrolled" Camp Wokanda; Camp Wokanda included a park, camping sites, wedding/banquet facility and indoor accommodations for hire, as well as access to overnight camping sites on their property in exchange for a monetary fee; in February 2017, plaintiffs met with an agent or employee of the park district for a tour of Camp Wokanda for the purpose of deciding whether to reserve the camp for their future wedding and reception; at that meeting, the camp's employee described the rules, regulations, and policies of Camp Wokanda and led plaintiffs on a tour throughout the campground, during which time the employee explained that plaintiffs could rent one particular campsite for their exclusive use during their stay, pointed to two poles on each side of the path to the campsite, and explained that the poles were there for plaintiffs' exclusive use and could be used "for any camping or recreational purpose they so desired."

¶ 5 In counts I and II, plaintiffs additionally alleged that sometime before August 26, 2017, plaintiffs reserved one of the campsites for multiple nights, beginning on Friday, August 25, 2017, and paid the requested monetary fee; on August 25, 2017, plaintiffs arrived at Camp Wokanda, checked in with employees/agents of the park district, and were directed by the defendant to their designated individual campsite; on Saturday, August 26, 2017, plaintiffs attached their own camping hammock to two vertical parallel poles that were secured in the ground at the entryway of their designated campsite area and sat in the hammock together; one of the poles broke and fell onto both plaintiffs, causing the hammock and plaintiffs to drop to the ground; and no warnings were posted prohibiting the use of hammocks at the campsite.

¶ 6 Plaintiffs further alleged in counts I and II that in February 2017 and on August 26, 2017, the park district had a policy of not allowing hammocks or any other object to be hung from the poles and had actual knowledge that the said poles were never intended to, and did not have the structural ability to, support appreciable weight (including people in hammocks); at no time did the plaintiffs agree to or sign any type of release of liability; at no time did defendant communicate with plaintiffs about any rules, policies, or warnings regarding their stay and use of Camp Wokanda; and, on August 26, 2017, after the pole broke and injured plaintiffs, a Peoria police officer told one of the plaintiffs' family members that the park district had a policy that did not allow erecting hammocks or any other object from any structure within the park district property. Plaintiffs attached the police report to the second amended complaint, indicating that upon his arrival to the scene, the responding officer saw a "telephone pole" standing on the right of the entrance to the camp area with a hammock tied to it and a "telephone pole" on the ground to the left of the entrance. The responding officer also indicated in the report that he followed the ambulance to the hospital to gather information and, while Torres and Gibson were being treated, he advised Torres's mother that "it is Peoria Park District Policy that we do not allow erecting hammocks, or any other object, from any structure within Park District properties."

¶ 7 Plaintiffs also alleged in counts I and II that on and before 1975, Camp Wokanda was owned and used by the United States Boy Scouts, who erected numerous manmade wooden poles adjacent to a number of campsite openings and trails to be used to hang banners, flags, finish line signs, and string lights; those poles remained vertically in the ground and remained in their original location for many years; the poles "were not intended by the Boy Scouts to support any appreciable weight including the hanging of hammocks with people in them"; the Boy Scouts had actual knowledge, including the formation of a safety policy, that the poles were not safe to support any appreciable weight, including people in hammocks; in 1975, the park district purchased Camp Wokanda and continuously owned, operated, maintained and administered Camp Wokanda to the present time; for 42 years (1975 through August 26, 2017), the park district kept said poles in their pre-1975 locations and had actual knowledge and a policy that the poles, including the pole that broke and injured plaintiffs, were unsafe and unable to support appreciable weight, including people sitting in a hammock; at no time did the park district notify plaintiffs of its policy that did not allow the hanging of hammocks from the poles or that its policy prohibiting hanging hammocks from the poles was due to the poles never having been intended to hold appreciable weight or due to the poles being old and rotted; the park district did not have an inspection system and did not inspect the poles to ascertain the condition of the poles; the park district did not post any warning signs regarding the use of the poles; before August 26, 2017, certain poles located on Camp Wokanda broke or fell and had to be removed; for many years before and on August 26, 2017, the park district had actual knowledge that said poles, including the pole that injured the plaintiffs, were structurally not intended to support any appreciable weight, including people in hammocks, as evidenced by its safety policy and were unsafe for use by fee-paying campers including plaintiffs; and on August 27, 2017, a camp employee told Torres's family the plaintiffs' incident "wasn't the first time the camp's structures had fallen—just the week before, an old rotted tree that hadn't been properly removed fell on a tent at one of the campsites."

¶ 8 Plaintiffs alleged in counts I and II that by its acts and omissions regarding the poles, the park district was utterly indifferent to the safety of people on its property (including plaintiffs) and consciously disregarded the safety of other people (including plaintiffs). Plaintiffs alleged that they were injured due to the willful and wanton conduct of the park district in one or more of the following respects, where the park district:

"a. Failed to provide a safe campsite for use of the plaintiffs;

b. Showed an utter indifference for the safety of people on their property including the Plaintiff by having actual knowledge that said poles were unsafe for use by its patrons in hammocks; c. Showed a conscious disregard for the safety of people on their property including the Plaintiff by having actual knowledge that said poles were unsafe for use by its patrons in hammocks;

d. Allowed an unsafe condition to exist at the campsite being the faulty and unsafe pole when it had actual knowledge that said pole was faulty and unsafe;

e. Verbally told the Plaintiffs to use said poles without any restrictions when the Defendant knew or should have known that said poles were unsafe for hammock use;

f. Required the Plaintiffs to use a particular designated campsite when it knew or should have known that it was unsafe;

g. Failed to comply with its own policies and procedures;

h. Failed to comply with its own policy to notify campers, including the Plaintiffs not to hang a hammock on said poles due to the poles being unsafe;

i. Failed to comply with its own policy to notify campers, including the Plaintiffs not to hang a hammock on said poles due to the poles being old and rotten;

j. Failed to comply with its own policy to notify campers, including the Plaintiffs not to hang a hammock on said poles due to the poles never being intended to safely hold appreciable weight[;]

k. Failed to post any warning signs or any other communication to inform the Plaintiffs or other patrons of the CAMP WOKONDA policy prohibiting its campsite patrons from hanging hammocks on said poles;

l. Failed to warn of the unsafe condition of the property;

m. Failed to warn of the unsafe condition of the poles;

n. Failed to provide safe poles for use of the Plaintiffs at the campsite;

o. Failed to inspect said poles;

p. Provided unsafe poles for use of its patrons including the Plaintiffs at the campsite; and

q. Failed to

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