Date: 08-01-2006

Case Style: Ryan Murray, et al. v. Chicago Youth Center, et al.

Case Number: 99457

Judge: McMorrow

Court: Illinois Supreme Court on appeal from the Circuit Court of Cook County

Plaintiff's Attorney: Unknown

Defendant's Attorney: Unknown

Description:

Plaintiffs, Ryan Murray and his mother, Joyce Mayers, brought suit against the Chicago Board of Education (the Board), Chicago Youth Centers (CYC),(1) and CYC employee James Collins (Collins) to recover for injuries suffered and medical expenses incurred as a result of a mini-trampoline accident that occurred at Bryn Mawr Elementary School on December 14, 1992. The circuit court of Cook County granted defendants summary judgment in their favor, holding that they were immune from liability pursuant to sections 2-201 and 3-108(a) of the Illinois Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act (Tort Immunity Act) (745 ILCS 10/2-201, 3-108(a) (West 1992)). On appeal, the appellate court affirmed the grant of summary judgment, but on different grounds. 352 Ill. App. 3d 95. (2004). The appellate court held that section 3-109(c)(2) of the Tort Immunity Act (745 ILCS 10/3-109(c)(2) (West 1992)), which provides limited immunity for hazardous recreational activities, was applicable in this case and, accordingly, the immunity afforded defendants by the Tort Immunity Act did not extend to willful and wanton acts. 352 Ill. App. 3d at 65. However, the appellate court also held that, as a matter of law, the facts as set forth in plaintiffs' second amended complaint, along with the depositions, affidavits and other documents on file, would not support a finding that defendants acted willfully and wantonly. 352 Ill. App. 3d at 106.

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On December 14, 1992, Ryan Murray attempted to perform a forward flip off a mini-trampoline. He landed in a sort of "belly flop" on his upper chest and shoulders, sustaining serious injury to his neck. As a result, he was rendered a quadriplegic.

At the time of the injury, Ryan was 13 years old and attending the eighth grade at Bryn Mawr Elementary School, a Chicago public school operated by the Board.(2) The injury occurred while Ryan was participating in an extracurricular tumbling class which was held during his school lunch period in the gymnasium of Bryn Mawr's main building. CYC offered the tumbling class at Bryn Mawr with the permission of the Board. Collins, a CYC employee, was the instructor. Collins had a degree in physical education and limited experience with the mini-trampoline. The mini-trampoline that was used in the tumbling class when Ryan was injured was purchased by the Board in 1991 with grant money obtained by Bryn Mawr in conjunction with a tumbling program offered as part of an after-school antigang program called D.A.R.E.

When Ryan began the tumbling class in the fall of 1992, his skill level was already beyond the "beginner" stage due to his prior experiences. Ryan had taken the extracurricular tumbling class offered by CYC at Bryn Mawr in the spring 1992 term, when he was in the seventh grade. That class had also been taught by Collins. In 1991, Ryan participated in the D.A.R.E. after-school tumbling class at Bryn Mawr and, before that, he attended a tumbling class at Olive Harvey College during the summer. Ryan was able to perform back flips and forward flips from a standing position and had successfully performed a forward flip off a mini-trampoline on at least five or six occasions before the accident. Ryan used a mini-trampoline for the first time during the D.A.R.E. program.

The tumbling class at Bryn Mawr was held two days each week and lasted about 50 minutes. Between 18 and 22 students participated in the tumbling class on a given day. Typically, the students would come to the gym, sign in, and then change into loose-fitting clothing. Class would always begin with stretching exercises, after which the students would work on whatever gymnastic maneuver Collins planned to practice that day. For the most part, tumbling class consisted of learning and practicing floor maneuvers such as rolls, somersaults, cartwheels and forward or backward flips from a standing position. Collins used the mini-trampoline as part of his regular class on only a few occasions. However, at the end of each class, once the planned instruction was finished, Collins would give the students the last 10 to 15 minutes of the class period to "freelance" and practice any maneuver they wanted to work on. Generally, the mini-trampoline would be made available to the students during this time. The students would bring the mini-trampoline onto the gym floor and set it up. Collins would then make sure the trampoline was locked in position and that a double layer of floor mats was placed around the device.

Once the mini-trampoline was set up, the students would form a line and take turns using it. Some of the students would simply jump off the mini-trampoline, while other students who were more advanced might do a flip or somersault off the mini-trampoline. On occasion, Collins would "spot" the students.(3) He also taught the students how to "spot" each other. However, Collins did not require that spotters be used every time a student jumped off the mini-trampoline but, rather, only if the student requested one.

On December 14, 1992, the tumbling class proceeded as usual. After regular class instruction was finished, the mini-trampoline was set up and the students were allowed to freelance. Ryan got in line and, when it was his turn, made a running approach to the mini-trampoline, jumped off the mini-trampoline into the air, rotated in a forward flip. He then landed on the mats on his upper chest and neck, sustaining injuries which rendered him a quadriplegic. Collins was in the gymnasium at the time of the accident, but was standing a few yards away, talking with other students. He had not been spotting the students using the mini-trampoline, nor had he assigned other students to act as spotters. Collins said that he saw Ryan's approach to the mini-trampoline before the accident and it appeared to him that Ryan was going to attempt a double forward flip. However, Collins was too far away from the mini-trampoline to intervene or take any action. After Ryan's accident, Collins immediately sent some students to the office to call 911 for assistance. Collins stayed with Ryan until emergency services arrived and Ryan was taken by ambulance to the hospital.

Ryan and his mother, Joyce Mayer, brought suit against the Board, CYC, and Collins.(4) In their second amended complaint, plaintiffs alleged in count I that the use of a mini-trampoline was a hazardous recreational activity and that CYC and Collins acted willfully and wantonly in that they: failed to supply safety equipment, including a safety belt or harness and/or adequate mats; failed to provide proper instruction to Ryan; failed to evaluate Ryan's ability before allowing him to perform a somersault off the trampoline; failed to advise Ryan not to perform a somersault off the trampoline without a spotter; allowed Ryan to perform a somersault off the trampoline without a spotter; failed to guard against spinal-cord injury by using spotters and proper safety equipment; failed to warn Ryan of the substantial risk of severe spinal-cord injury knowing that he did not know of this risk; and failed to stop class when it was apparent that students were using the trampoline unsafely, i.e., without spotters and proper safety equipment. In count II, plaintiffs alleged that the Board was negligent in that it failed to provide proper safety equipment to the students taking the tumbling class, including a safety belt, harness or proper landing mats for trampolining. In count III, plaintiffs alleged that the Board was willful and wanton for the same reasons that it was alleged the Board was negligent in count II. In count IV, plaintiffs alleged that the Board allowed Ryan to participate in a hazardous recreational activity and that Collins, who was an agent or apparent agent of the Board, was unqualified to instruct students on the use of the mini-trampoline and did not supervise Ryan's use of the mini-trampoline. It was further alleged that the Board was willful and wanton for all of the reasons that CYC and Collins were alleged to be willful and wanton in count I. Counts V through VIII mirrored counts I through IV, except that in counts V through VIII recovery was sought under the Rights of Married Persons Act (750 ILCS 65/15 (West 1992)) for medical expenses Joyce Mayers incurred as a result of Ryan's injury.

Defendants moved for summary judgment, arguing that all of the allegations in plaintiffs' second amended complaint could be distilled down to two general claims-the failure to provide proper safety equipment and the failure to properly supervise, in particular, the failure to provide a "spotter,"and that sections 2-201 and 3-108(a) of the Tort Immunity Act provided them with blanket immunity with regard to these claims.(5) At the time of Ryan's accident in 1992, sections 2-201 and 3-108(a) of the Tort Immunity Act provided:

"§2-201. Except as otherwise provided by Statute, a public employee serving in a position involving the determination of policy or the exercise of discretion is not liable for an injury resulting from his act or omission in determining policy when acting in the exercise of such discretion even though abused." 745 ILCS 10/2-201 (West 1992)

"§3-108. (a) Except as otherwise provided by this Act and subject to subdivision (b) neither a local public entity nor a public employee is liable for an injury caused by a failure to supervise an activity on or the use of any public property." 745 ILCS 10/3-108(a) (West 1992).

In response, plaintiffs argued that section 3-109, the immunity provision in relation to hazardous recreational activities, applied in this case and that, pursuant to section 3-109(c)(2), acts of willful and wanton conduct were not immunized. In 1992, section 3-109 of the Tort Immunity Act provided:

"§3-109. (a) Neither a local public entity nor a public employee is liable to any person who participates in a hazardous recreational activity, including any person who assists the participant, or to any spectator who knew or reasonably should have known that the hazardous recreational activity created a substantial risk of injury to himself or herself and was voluntarily in the place of risk, or having the ability to do so failed to leave, for any damage or injury to property or persons arising out of that hazardous recreational activity.

(b) As used in this Section, 'hazardous recreational activity' means a recreational activity conducted on property of a local public entity which creates a substantial (as distinguished from a minor, trivial, or insignificant) risk of injury to a participant or a spectator.

'Hazardous recreational activity' also means:

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(3) Animal racing, including equestrian competition, archery, bicycle racing or jumping, boat racing, cross-country and downhill skiing, hang gliding, kayaking, motorized vehicle racing, off-road motorcycling or four-wheel driving of any kind, orienteering, pistol and rifle shooting, rock climbing, rocketeering, rodeo, spelunking, sky diving, sport parachuting, body contact sports (i.e., sports in which it is reasonably foreseeable that there will be rough bodily contact with one or more participants), surfing, trampolining, tree climbing, tree rope swinging where the person or persons furnished their own rope, water skiing, white water rafting, and wind surfing.

(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), this Section does not limit liability which would otherwise exist for any of the following:

(1) Failure of the local public entity or public employee to guard or warn of a dangerous condition of which it has actual or constructive notice and of which the participant does not have nor can be reasonably expected to have had notice.

(2) An act of willful and wanton conduct by a public entity or a public employee which is a proximate cause of the injury. Nothing in this subsection creates a duty of care or basis of liability for personal injury or for damage to personal property." (Emphasis added.) 745 ILCS 10/3-109 (West 1992).

Ruling on defendants' motions for summary judgment, the trial court held that, pursuant to sections 2-201 and 3-108(a) of the Tort Immunity Act, Collins, CYC, and the Board were entitled to blanket immunity from all of plaintiffs' claims, whether negligence or willful and wanton misconduct was alleged. The trial court, relying on a Fourth District appellate court opinion, Johnson v. Decatur Park District, 301 Ill. App. 3d 798 (1998), ruled that section 3-109 of the Act did not serve to "trump" the blanket immunity provided by sections 2-201 and 3-108(a). The trial court granted defendants' motions for summary judgment in their favor.

On appeal, the appellate court affirmed the trial court's grant of summary judgment, but held that, because trampolining is a hazardous recreational activity, section 3-109 of the Tort Immunity Act is the provision which determines the scope of defendants' immunity. 352 Ill. App. 3d at 105. Accordingly, defendants were immune from all negligence claims, but pursuant to section 3-109(c)(2) of the Act, defendants would not be immune if plaintiffs' injury resulted from defendants' willful and wanton misconduct. Nevertheless, the appellate court held that, based on the uncontested facts drawn from plaintiff's second amended complaint and the affidavits, depositions, and documents on file, "defendants' actions do not approach the degree of blameworthiness necessary to maintain an action for willful and wanton behavior." 352 Ill. App. 3d at 106. For this reason, the appellate court affirmed the grant of summary judgment to the Board, CYC, and Collins.

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Click the case caption above for the full text of the court's opinion.

Outcome: We affirm the judgment of the appellate court, which affirmed the grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendants.

Plaintiff's Experts: Unknown

Defendant's Experts: Unknown

Comments: None