OPINION Presiding Justice LIU delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 Plaintiff, Gina Spadoni, appeals from the dismissal of her complaint against defendant, United Airlines, Inc. Plaintiff alleges that on September 21, 2013 she was a ticketed airline passenger on a United flight from Chicago, Illinois, to Los Angeles, California. She checked one piece of baggage, paid the applicable fee for checked baggage, and received a baggage claim tag before boarding the plane. Upon...
OPINION Justice SPENCE delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 Plaintiff, JPMorgan Chase Bank, NA, 1 filed a complaint to foreclose the mortgage on the property of defendants, Dominik Szpara and Lidia Szarek, at 122 East Lincoln Avenue, Glendale Heights, Illinois (the Property). Defendants answered the complaint and raised four affirmative defenses and one counterclaim. Plaintiff moved to strike three of the affirmative defenses and the counterclaim; one affirmative...
OPINION Justice McLAREN delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 On February 19, 2014, plaintiff, Nicholas A. Skridla, filed a 42-count fourth amended complaint for damages arising from an automobile accident involving his wife and son, Margaret E. Skridla and Maxamillian J.A. Skridla, on December 3, 2009. Only plaintiff's claims of spoliation of evidence against defendant Auto Owners Insurance Company (Auto Owners) (counts XXXVII through XLII) are the subject of this...
OPINION Justice HUTCHINSON delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 Keith Plywaczynski is a certified financial planner (CFP) who provides investment advice to businesses and high-net-worth individuals. He was formerly employed by Capstone Financial Advisors (Capstone), an investment advisory firm. He resigned from Capstone and went to work for a competitor, Mariner Wealth Advisors LLC and Mariner Wealth Advisors LLC—Chicago (collectively, Mariner). Afterward, Capstone...
OPINION Justice ZENOFF delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 Plaintiff, Thomas Swoboda, appeals from an order of the circuit court of Kane County affirming the decision of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Sugar Grove Police Pension Fund (Board) denying plaintiff's application for line-of-duty disability benefits and instead awarding him nonduty benefits. We affirm. 2 Plaintiff filed his application on February 4, 2013, and the Board later granted the Village of...
OPINION Presiding Justice SCHOSTOK delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 This case arises from a mortgage foreclosure action. After the property was sold at a sheriff's sale, the plaintiff, Deutsche Bank National Trust Company, filed a motion in the circuit court of Du Page County to vacate the sale. The trial court granted the motion. Steve Dweydari, the high bidder at the sheriff's sale, then filed motions (1) to intervene; (2) to reconsider the order vacating the sale;...
OPINION Justice LAMPKIN delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 Plaintiffs Boffa Surgical Group LLC, Dr. James Boffa, and Dr. Andrew Agos (collectively, the Boffa Group) were not asked to participate in managed care groups at a hospital where they had staff privileges. The Boffa Group sued defendants Managed Healthcare Associates Ltd. (MHCA) and Swedish Covenant Managed Care Alliance (SCMCA), alleging antitrust violations and tortious interference with prospective economic...
OPINION Justice HYMAN delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 A jury convicted defendant Rodney Jones of first-degree murder based on a fatal traffic accident that occurred when he and his codefendant fled from a residential burglary. Jones argues that the State did not prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt based on (i) the insufficiency of the DNA evidence linking him to the burglary and traffic accident and (ii) the lack of evidence suggesting he participated in or...
OPINION Presiding Justice PIERCE delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 Plaintiffs, landlords Gino and Bernadette Battaglia filed this forcible entry and detainer action claiming breach of commercial lease by their tenant, defendant 736 N. Clark Corp. d/b/a 25 Degrees. Following a bench trial, the court entered a "split decision" awarding plaintiffs $4,021 in damages for defendant's breach of the lease and denied an order of possession requested by plaintiffs. Defendant...
OPINION Presiding Justice PIERCE delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 Chapter VII, section B.2, of the Chicago Park District Code (Code) prohibits persons from remaining in Chicago parks from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. Chicago Park District Code, ch. VII, B.2 (amended July 28, 1992); see also Chicago Municipal Code 10-36-185 (added Apr. 21, 1999). According to an official with the Chicago park district, the purpose of the ordinance is "to keep parks safe, clean, attractive...
OPINION Presiding Justice REYES delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 Plaintiffs Phusion Projects, Inc. and Phusion Projects, LLC (collectively Phusion) brought an action for declaratory judgment against its commercial liability insurer, Selective Insurance Company of South Carolina (Selective). Phusion sought a declaration in the circuit court of Cook County that its insurance policy required Selective to defend and indemnify Phusion in six underlying lawsuits (...
OPINION Presiding Justice ROCHFORD delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 Plaintiff-appellee, Johnnie Stuckey, as attorney-in-fact for Robert Holman, filed the instant personal injury action against defendants-appellants, The Renaissance at Midway, Inc., an Illinois corporation; Nucare Services Corporation, an Illinois corporation; Clinical Consulting Solutions, LLC, f/k/a Clinical Consulting Services, LLC, an Illinois limited liability company; and Quest Services...
OPINION Justice STEIGMANN delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 During a March 2013 public meeting, plaintiff, the Board of Education of Springfield School District No. 186 (Board), voted to terminate the employment of its superintendant, Dr. Walter Milton, Jr. In May 2013 and April 2014, defendant, the Attorney General of Illinois (AG) — acting on allegations raised by defendant, Molly Beck — issued two binding opinions in which the AG ultimately concluded that the...
OPINION Justice HARRIS delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 On May 21, 2012, plaintiff Hachem entered into a real estate contract for the purchase of a residence located at 10353 S. Seeley Ave. in Chicago. After completing the purchase, plaintiff Hachem searched the Cook County Recorder of Deeds and discovered that the property was part of the Longwood Drive historical district. The ordinance designating the property as a landmark was recorded in January 1982....
OPINION Justice LAMPKIN delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 Plaintiffs, Great American Insurance Company of New York, as subrogee of 600 Wabash L.P. and 600 S. Wabash Commercial, LLC, American Economy Insurance Company, as subrogee of Moonstone Foods Enterprises, LLC, Society Insurance, a mutual company, as subrogee of Charming Food Network, Inc. d/b/a Tamarind, and First National Insurance Company of America, as subrogee of Wabash KPX, Inc. (collectively insurance...
OPINION Justice SPENCE delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 Third-party respondent, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (Wells Fargo), appeals from the trial court's ruling requiring it to pay $70,457.94 to plaintiffs, James B. Kauffman and Nancy Kauffman, for violating a citation and order to freeze assets of a judgment debtor. The assets in question were in an Interest on Lawyers Trust Account (IOLTA). On appeal, Wells Fargo argues that the trial court erred in its ruling because:...
OPINION Justice COBBS delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 Plaintiff Thomas Richard appeals from an order of the trial court granting summary judgment in favor of defendants Laurence Chicago Ventures, LLC and Laurence Chicago, LLC, in his negligence action for injuries sustained in a fall while performing his duties at work. On appeal, plaintiff claims that genuine issues of material fact exist which preclude entry of summary judgment in defendants' favor. We affirm....
OPINION Justice HOWSE delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 Respondent Housing Authority of the County of Cook (HACC) sent a notice of termination of housing choice voucher (HCV) benefits to petitioner Brenda Lipscomb based on Brenda's alleged failure to timely report changes in family composition and income to the HACC. Brenda requested an informal hearing on her termination of benefits, and the hearing officer affirmed the termination of her benefits. Brenda filed a...
OPINION Presiding Justice McBRIDE delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 This is an appeal from the foreclosure of separate mortgage loans taken in 2007 and 2008 by three limited liability companies and personally guaranteed by Alex Boltin. After judicial sales netted less than the mortgage debts, the trial judge confirmed the sales and entered joint and several deficiency judgments against the companies and Boltin for $359,193, $262,702, and $2,279,954, or a total of...
OPINION Justice WELCH delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 1 The plaintiff, Lynne Beggs, a tenured teacher, was dismissed for cause from employment on April 30, 2012, following a resolution by the Board of Education of the Murphysboro Community Unit School District No. 186 (the Board) pursuant to section 24-12 of the Illinois School Code (the Code) (105 ILCS 5/24-12 (West 2012)). After the Board passed its resolution, the plaintiff requested a hearing before a hearing...
