Williams v. Board of Educ. of City of Chicago

• Decision Date: 25 November 1991
• Docket Number: No. 1-90-0206,1-90-0206
• Citation: 222 Ill.App.3d 559,165 Ill.Dec. 78,584 N.E.2d 257
• Parties: , 165 Ill.Dec. 78, 71 Ed. Law Rep. 1053 Cameron WILLIAMS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF the CITY OF CHICAGO, a municipal corporation, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

Page 257

584 N.E.2d 257

222 Ill.App.3d 559, 165 Ill.Dec. 78,

71 Ed. Law Rep. 1053

Cameron WILLIAMS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v.BOARD OF EDUCATION OF the CITY OF CHICAGO, a municipal corporation, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 1-90-0206.

Appellate Court of Illinois First District, First Division.

Nov. 25, 1991.

Demos & Burke, Chicago (William J. Burke and Lawrence P. Devens, of counsel), for plaintiff-appellant.

Kralovec, Marquard, Doyle & Gibbons, Chartered, Chicago (Nancy Jo Arnold, Philip J. Domagalski and David T. Nani, of counsel), for defendant-appellee.

Justice CAMPBELLdelivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff, Cameron Williams, brought a personal injury suit against the defendantBoard of Education of the City of Chicago("the Board") and appeals from orders of the circuit court of Cook County dismissing count III of his first amended complaint on the ground that it was barred by the statute of limitations.For the reasons which follow, we reverse the judgment of the circuit court and remand for further proceedings.

In his initial complaint, plaintiff alleged that the Board owned, operated, maintained and controlled Harper High School in Chicago, Illinois.The school offered athletic programs to its students, including a varsity football team.On August 27, 1981, plaintiff, a member of the varsity football team, was severely injured during a scrimmage with Chicago Vocational High School.

On August 13, 1982, plaintiff served the Board with a written notice of his injury, which was in accordance at the time with section 8-102 of the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act(Ill.Rev.Stat.1981, ch. 85, par. 8-102)("Tort Immunity Act").In August 1982, plaintiff also filed suit against the Board and others.Count I of the complaint alleged that the Board and the City of Chicago negligently provided plaintiff with, and permitted plaintiff to wear, defective or inadequate football equipment.Count II of the complaint was brought against various football equipment manufacturers, sounding in strict products liability.Plaintiff attached a copy of the aforementioned notice of injury to the complaint.Paragraph six of this notice states:

"The general nature of the accident is: While claimant was participating as a member of the Harper High School football team in a regularly scheduled scrimmage supervised by personnel of the Board of Education of the City of Chicago and using equipment issued to him by said personnel, he was tackled and, as a result thereof, became a quadriplegic."

Plaintiff amended this complaint on December 30, 1983, changing the manufacturer defendants and adding allegations concerning the face mask of plaintiff's helmet.In October 1985, all defendants moved for summary judgment.Plaintiff voluntarily dismissed this complaint in December 1985 and refiled in October 1986 pursuant to section 13-217 of the Code of Civil Procedure(Ill.Rev.Stat.1985, ch. 110, par. 13-217).

The refiled suit again took the form of a two-count complaint.Count I alleged that the Board negligently provided plaintiff with defective, improperly sized or worn equipment.Count II again sounded in strict liability against the manufacturers.

The defendants again moved for summary judgment.On June 16, 1987, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the shoulder-pad manufacturer, but denied the motions of the other defendants.These remaining defendants later refiled their summary judgment motions with accompanying affidavits.

On March 10, 1989, plaintiff filed an amended complaint.The amended complaint contained the original two counts and added count III, which alleged that the Board had engaged in willful and wanton misconduct.Plaintiff alleged that the Board knew that football was a dangerous sport and that high school players would require special instruction and weight training to reduce the risk of spinal cord injuries.Plaintiff also alleged that the Board knew that high school scrimmages were potentially dangerous, requiring close supervision to avoid rules infractions, such as "spearing," which could result in spinal cord injuries.Plaintiff then alleged that the Board nevertheless failed to provide plaintiff with the required training or instruction and failed to adequately supervise and officiate the scrimmage of August 27, 1981.

The Board moved to dismiss count III of the amended complaint pursuant to sections 2-615and2-619 of the Code of Civil Procedure(Ill.Rev.Stat.1989, ch. 110, pars. 2-615, 2-619).The motion asserted that count III was barred by the statute of limitations and that the Board was immune from any liability arising from the alleged failure to supervise plaintiff.Following a hearing on the motion, the trial court granted summary judgment to the manufacturer defendants on counts I and II and dismissed count III as time-barred.Plaintiff's timely appeal of the dismissal of count III followed the denial of his motion to reconsider; plaintiff is not contesting the summary judgment entered on the first two counts.

Although the Board's motion was purportedly filed pursuant to sections 2-615and2-619, the statute of limitations and statutory immunity are affirmative matters to be considered pursuant to section 2-619 alone.(Ill.Rev.Stat.1989, ch. 110, par. 2-619(a)(5), (9);see alsoUrbaitis v. Commonwealth Edison(1991), 143 Ill.2d 458, 475, 159 Ill.Dec. 50, 57, 575 N.E.2d 548, 555(comparing sections 2-615and2-619).)Section 2-619 provides a mechanism for disposing of issues of law or easily proved issues of fact.(Chicago Steel Rule Die & Fabricators Co. v. Malan Construction Co.(1990), 200 Ill.App.3d 701, 146 Ill.Dec. 378, 558 N.E.2d 341.)A trial court should grant a motion to dismiss if, after construing the documents in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, the court finds no disputed issue of fact.(Samansky v. Rush-Presbyterian-Saint Luke's Medical Center(1990), 208 Ill.App.3d 377, 153 Ill.Dec. 428, 567 N.E.2d 386.)The court assumes that the well-pleaded facts of plaintiffs' complaint are true, but conclusions of law or fact unsupported by specific factual allegations may be disregarded.(Foreman v. Consolidated Rail Corp.(1991), 214 Ill.App.3d 700, 158 Ill.Dec. 384, 574 N.E.2d 178.)We may affirm a dismissal granted pursuant to section 2-619 on any grounds supported by the record, regardless of the trial court's reasons.SeeBeckman v. Freeman United Coal Mining Co.(1988), 123 Ill.2d 281, 286, 122 Ill.Dec. 805, 807, 527 N.E.2d 303, 305.

Plaintiff contends that his amended complaint, filed after the expiration of the relevant statute of limitations, was not time-barred because it "relates back" to the original complaint.Section 2-616(b) of the Code of Civil Procedure(Ill.Rev.Stat.1989, ch. 110, par. 2-616(b)) provides that a cause of action alleged in an amended complaint filed after the expiration of the statutory limitations period will relate back to the filing of the original complaint if two requirements are satisfied: (1) the original pleading was timely filed and (2) the original and amended pleadings indicate that the cause of action asserted in the amended pleading grew out of the same transaction or occurrence set up in the original pleading..(Wolf v. Meister-Neiberg, Inc.(1991), 143 Ill.2d 44, 46, 155 Ill.Dec. 814, 816, 570 N.E.2d 327, 329.)In this case, defendant argues that plaintiff has not satisfied the second requirement.

In order for a cause of action to relate back under section 2-616(b), the original pleading need not have technically stated a cause of action, nor need the cause of action set out in the amended pleading be substantially the same as that stated in the original pleading.(Cannon v. Bryant(1990), 196 Ill.App.3d 891, 143 Ill.Dec. 554, 554 N.E.2d 489;Krieger v. Village of Carpentersville(1972), 8 Ill.App.3d 243, 289 N.E.2d 481.)Rather, an amended pleading grows out of the original pleading if the latter provided defendant with all of the necessary information to prepare his defense to the subsequently asserted claim.(Weidner v. Carle Foundation Hospital(1987), 159 Ill.App.3d 710, 111 Ill.Dec. 435, 512 N.E.2d 824.)If defendant shows that the amendment hindered defendant's ability to present a case on the merits, the court will find prejudice and the amendment will not relate back.However, if the original complaint directed defendant's attention to the facts on which the amended claim is predicated, the court will not find prejudice and the amendment will relate back.(United Parcel Service v. Church's Fried Chicken, Inc.(1988), 174 Ill.App.3d 378, 123 Ill.Dec. 822, 528 N.E.2d 367.)In some cases, even an amendment which differs materially from the original complaint may relate back, so long as the defendant was put on clear notice of the facts included in the amendment prior to the expiration of the limitations period.Cf.Wolf, 143 Ill.2d at 48, 155 Ill.Dec. at 816, 570 N.E.2d at 329(amended slip-and-fall complaint with materially different location relates back where defendants knew of correct location of accident from depositions and other discovery prior to expiration of statutory period).

In this case, the record indicates that the trial court found count III of plaintiff's amended complaint to be time-barred because the court"could not see any way that the city would have been apprised from * * * the facts alleged in the first pleading that [plaintiff]...