JUSTICE KARNEZIS delivered the opinion of the court: The Illinois Council of Police (ICOP), a labor union, filed a majority interest representation petition with the Illinois Labor Relations Board, Local Panel (the Board), seeking certification as the exclusive representative of all aviation security sergeants (sergeants) employed by the City of Chicago (the City). Over the City's objections that a new, stand-alone bargaining unit consisting solely of sergeants was inappropriate under the...
Justice KARNEZIS delivered the opinion of the court: The Illinois Council of Police (ICOP), a labor union, filed a majority interest representation petition with the Illinois Labor Relations Board, Local Panel (the Board), seeking certification as the exclusive representative of all aviation security sergeants (sergeants) employed by the City of Chicago (the City). Over the City's objections that a new, stand-alone bargaining unit consisting solely of sergeants was inappropriate under the...
OPINION Justice LYTTON delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. Plaintiff Aventine Renewable Energy, Inc., invested in auction rate securities (ARS) from defendants JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. and JP Morgan Securities, Inc. (JP Morgan). After Aventine lost a considerable amount of money from its investment, it filed suit against JP Morgan. JP Morgan filed a motion to compel Aventine to submit to arbitration or, alternatively, to stay the litigation pending resolution of a class...
Justice CAHILL delivered the opinion of the court: This is a permissive appeal under Supreme Court Rule 308 (155 Ill.2d R. 308). Plaintiff David Skotticelli brought this action for personal injuries he sustained as a result of a fight with Pedro E. Diaz inside Tequila Roadhouse, a tavern owned and operated by defendant Club Misty, Inc. Plaintiff served Club Misty with a request to admit facts under Supreme Court Rule 216 (134 Ill.2d R. 216). Club Misty responded, denying all requests. The...
Justice HOFFMAN delivered the opinion of the court: The plaintiff, Don Nowak, brought this action against the defendant, the City of Country Club Hills (City), seeking reimbursement, pursuant to the Public Safety Employee Benefits Act (PSEBA)(820 ILCS 320/1 et seq. (West 2006)), of his proportionate share of health insurance premium payments incurred after he sustained a disabling injury. The circuit court entered summary judgment in favor of the City, and the plaintiff has appealed. The...
OPINION Justice ROBERT E. GORDON delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. These consolidated appeals arise from a dispute concerning the sales of interests in two joint ventures. Plaintiffs Michael Benson, Edward Dolinar, Joel Stone, and William F. Johnson brought suit against defendant John Stafford, Jr., in the circuit court of Cook County, alleging that defendant had breached his duty as a fiduciary in fact and had committed common law fraud, including claims for affirmative...
Justice CAHILL delivered the opinion of the court: Plaintiffs appeal the circuit court's order dismissing claims stemming from disclosure of the personal information of approximately 1,700 former Chicago Public School (CPS) employees. We affirm. Defendant All Printing & Graphics, Inc., was retained by the Board of Education of the City of Chicago (Board) to print, package and mail a "Chicago Public Schools-COBRA Open Enrollment List" to over 1,700 former CPS employees. The mailing, sent...
Presiding Justice QUINN delivered the opinion of the court: Defendant Jerry Gillespie appeals from orders of the circuit court denying him leave to file his third and fourth successive petitions for relief under the Post-Conviction Hearing Act (Act) (725 ILCS 5/122-1 et seq. (West 2008)) and dismissing two petitions for relief under section 2-1401 of the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure (Code) (735 ILCS 5/2-1401 (West 2008)). For the following reasons, we affirm. I. BACKGROUND Following a...
OPINION Justice MYERSCOUGH delivered the judgment of the court: Plaintiff, Clinton Landfill, Inc., is in the process of seeking the necessary permits for a chemical-waste landfill. In July 2010, plaintiff filed a motion for a preliminary injunction against defendant, Mahomet Valley Water Authority. Plaintiff sought to enjoin defendant from contesting or being involved in plaintiff's permitting process on the basis that defendant lacked the authority to do so. The trial court denied plaintiff'...
Justice BURKE delivered the opinion of the court: An "L" screen is a free-standing, L-shaped structure used in baseball batting practice to protect the pitcher. While behind the screen, the pitcher throws the ball through a cutout portion of the screen, and the screen shields the pitcher from balls hit toward him. Defendant, Barrington Community School District 220, operates a baseball field with batting cages and L screens at Barrington High School. Plaintiff, Thomas J. Vilardo, took his son,...
Justice McBRIDE delivered the opinion of the court: Nina Swanson, of McHenry, Illinois, filed a wrongful death and survival action against the owners and managers of a large suburban shopping mall near Chicago, alleging their negligence in 2004 killed her husband Mark Swanson. Mark Swanson was a heating and air conditioning equipment technician dispatched to the mall by his employer, Carrier Corporation, to service the air conditioning equipment for one of the mall's tenants. Mark Swanson left...
Presiding Justice HOLDRIDGE delivered the opinion of the court: The plaintiff, American Family Mutual Insurance (American Family), filed a complaint for a declaratory judgment as to whether it owed insurance coverage under a homeowner's insurance policy issued to defendant, Michael Guzik. The complaint related to an explosion and fire that destroyed Guzik's home and damaged neighboring properties. State Farm Fire & Casualty Company (State Farm) filed a counterclaim as subrogee of the...
OPINION Justice LYTTON delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. Plaintiff, Marilee Curto, filed a complaint against defendant, Illini Manors, Inc., and Pekin Manors (Pekin Manors), 1 under the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act (Nursing Home Care Act) (210 ILCS 45/1-101 et seq. (West 2008)) for personal injuries her husband suffered while a resident at Pekin Manors and his wrongful death. Defendant moved to dismiss the complaint and compel arbitration. The trial court denied the...
Presiding Justice QUINN delivered the opinion of the court: The Cook County Public Guardian appeals the judgment of the circuit court terminating the parental rights of Martha R. and Thomas G., the natural parents of nine-year old Deandre D. 1 On appeal, the public guardian argues that the trial court erred in finding that termination of parental rights was in Deandre's best interests. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the circuit court. I. BACKGROUND Deandre's family came to the...
Presiding Justice GALLAGHER delivered the opinion of the court: Petitioner-appellee, the Trust of Gerard M. Kenny (Trust), filed a petition to confirm a final arbitration award in favor of the Trust and enter judgment thereon against respondent-appellant, Kenny Industries, Inc. The trial court granted the Trust's motion for summary judgment, confirming the arbitration award of $6,989,626 in total, and entered judgment against Kenny Industries in the amount of $3,074,846.95 through the date of...
Justice CARTER delivered the opinion of the court: Plaintiff, Kathleen Kleiber, brought suit against defendant, Freeport Farm & Fleet, Inc., also known as Farm & Fleet of Morton, for injuries she sustained when she fell and broke her leg on defendant's property. The trial court granted defendant's motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff appeals. We affirm the trial court's ruling. FACTS On May 2, 2008, plaintiff and her husband were shopping at the Farm and Fleet store (the store) in Morton,...
MODIFIED UPON DENIAL OF REHEARING AND APPLICATION FOR CERTIFICATE OF IMPORTANCE Justice SCHMIDT delivered the opinion of the court: In this Supreme Court Rule 308 (155 Ill.2d R. 308) appeal, we must answer the following question certified by the trial court: whether the finding of paternity in a decree of adoption is dispositive of the paternity of the adopted child when no motion to vacate was timely filed in the adoption case and when thereafter a petition to establish alternative...
Justice BOWMAN delivered the opinion of the court: Plaintiffs, Barbara Ruisard, Jeff Reber, Jennifer and Bill Dillard, Karen and Forrest Dean, Rebecca and John Dumerer, Marie and Jim Newman, Kristin and James Risner, and Susan and Jerome Zybko, are residents of Glen Ellyn who oppose the addition of cell phone antennae to the Glen Ellyn water tower. Plaintiffs' pleadings, which culminated in a second amended complaint, relied on two ordinances passed by the Village of Glen Ellyn (Village)....
Justice SCHOSTOK delivered the opinion of the court: On July 6, 2007, the plaintiff, Gary Cutler, filed his third amended 27-count medical malpractice complaint against the defendants, Northwest Suburban Community Hospital, Inc. (Northwest Suburban), Bariatric Specialists of Illinois, S.C. (Bariatric Specialists), Forest Health Services Corp. (Forest), Bariatric Treatment Centers of Illinois, Inc. (BTC), Dr. Eric Vaughn, Dr. Roy E. Berkowitz, Proctor Hospital (Proctor), Dr. James DeBord, and...
Presiding Justice QUINN delivered the opinion of the court: Respondent Leanne D. appeals the judgment of the circuit court terminating her parental rights to her minor son Joshua K. 1 On appeal, respondent contends that the trial court erred in finding that she was unfit to parent Joshua and that terminating her parental rights was in Joshua's best interests. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the circuit court. I. BACKGROUND Joshua was born on March 14, 2006. A little less than a...
