Source: https://www.chicagobusinesslitigationlawyerblog.com/category/illinois-supreme-court/
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 08:16:48+00:00

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Illinois Supreme Court Category Archives — Chicago Business Litigation Lawyer Blog Published by Chicago, Illinois Business Litigation Attorneys — Lubin Austermuehle, P.C.
A recent ruling clarifying how Illinois state law applies to city ordinances caught the attention of our Chicago consumer protection attorneys. In Landis et al v. Marc Realty et al, Ill. Sup. Co. No. 105568 (May 21, 2009), tenants Ana and Ken Landis signed a lease for a Chicago apartment, starting June 1, 2001. They paid a security deposit of $8,400. However, they found a persistent leak in the apartment that the defendants, Marc Realty LLC and Elliott Weiner, were not able to fix. They came to a mutual agreement to vacate in exchange for being released from the lease and left in November of 2001. In April of 2006, they filed suit under Chicago’s Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinance, alleging that the defendants never paid back their security deposit.
Under the RLTO, landlords must repay security deposits, or the balance of such deposits, within 45 days of the date tenants move out or within seven days after the tenant gives notice. If they hold on to the deposits for more than six months, they must pay interest that accrues from the day the rental term began. If they fail to make either payment, tenants are entitled to sue for twice the security deposit plus interest. Neither party in this case disputed this. Instead, Marc Realty moved to dismiss the complaint as untimely under the two-year statute of limitations for a statutory penalty in Illinois. The plaintiffs argued that the RLTO did not provide a statutory penalty, but instead was governed by the five-year miscellaneous statute of limitations or the ten-year statute of limitations applied to contracts. The trial and appellate courts sided with defendants, and plaintiffs appealed.
The majority started by noting that the case rests on the proper interpretation of the phrase “statutory penalty.” It first took up the question of whether a city ordinance qualifies as a statute, which the plaintiffs argued that it did not. The appeals courts are split on this question, the Supreme Court wrote, and prior Supreme Court cases don’t quite apply. The court assumed that the Legislature intended the word “statutory” to take its ordinary dictionary definition, but found that dictionaries are also split on the issue. Applying the general principle that courts should give statutes their broadest possible meaning, the Supreme Court found that the Legislature intended “statutory” to encompass municipal ordinances as well as state law. It noted that this is most fair because it gives all claims for statutory penalties in Illinois the same statute of limitations.
The court next disposed of the plaintiffs’ arguments about the word “penalty.” Under McDonald’s Corp. v. Levine, 108 Ill. App. 3d 732 (1982), statutory penalties must impose automatic liability for violation; set forth a predetermined amount of damages; and impose damages without regard to actual damages. The plaintiffs concede that the RLTO meets the first test, but said the damages are not predetermined because a dollar amount isn’t specified. It doesn’t need to, the court wrote; the formula provided by the statute is sufficient to be counted as “predetermined.” It also dismissed the plaintiffs’ argument that they are seeking actual damages, noting that other areas of the RLTO specify actual damages, but this one does not. The ordinance also says nothing about the contractual obligations between landlords and tenants, the court said, despite plaintiffs’ argument that they were seeking to enforce contractual rights. Thus, the RLTO does impose a “statutory penalty” — and the lower courts’ judgments were affirmed.
In a dissent, Justices Kilbride and Karmeier disagreed with the majority on the question of whether the Legislature intended to include municipal ordinances in the definition of “statutory penalty.” Saying that courts must interpret laws according to the intent of drafters at the time, the justices wrote that “statutory” took only the state-law meaning in 1874, when the law was written. Furthermore, several Illinois Supreme Court precedents show that this interpretation was in use by courts of the time as well: “This court’s precedent could not be more clear.” And the result in this case contradicts a more recent ruling in Clare v. Bell, 378 Ill. 128 (1941), they wrote, which the majority mentioned but failed to adequately distinguish, leaving an inconsistent ruling. The justices also dissented from the majority’s denial of a rehearing.
As mediation and arbitration attorneys in Chicago, we were interested to see an Illinois Supreme Court decision from this year that clarifies state law’s relationship with the Federal Arbitration Act. Carter v. SCC Operating Company, No. 106511 (Ill. April 15, 2010) (PDF). The plaintiff, Sue Carter, is administering the estate of Joyce Gott, who was a resident of Odin Healthcare Center, a nursing home, for two months in 2005 19 more days in January of 2006. She died in the home that month. Carter, acting as Gott’s legal representative, signed an agreement on Gott’s original admission to the home agreeing to binding arbitration; Gott signed the same agreement herself on her second admission. The agreement also specifically mentioned that it is governed by the Federal Arbitration Act.
After Gott’s death, Carter filed a lawsuit in Marion County alleging Odin violated the state Nursing Home Care Act and the Wrongful Death Act by failing to provide proper care and supervise caregivers, resulting in juries that led to Gott’s death. Odin answered the complaint and then moved to compel arbitration under the arbitration agreement and then FAA. Carter answered that the arbitration agreement is null because it is against Illinois public policy under the Nursing Home Care Act, and the FAA allows arbitration agreements to be voided for “grounds that exist at law or in equity to void any contract.” At an evidentiary hearing, the trial court accepted that argument and others made by Carter and voided the arbitration agreement. Odin appealed, and the Fifth District Court of Appeal upheld the trial court’s decision, but only as to the FAA argument. In essence, the appeals court said the Nursing Home Care Act is an ordinary defense available for all contracts under state law, putting it outside the FAA.
Odin appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court, which initially denied the appeal but changed its mind after the Second District split with the Fifth on this issue and the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari to Odin. Attorney General Lisa Madigan was also permitted to intervene.
In its analysis, the state Supreme Court had only to consider the idea that the Nursing Home Care Act’s anti-waiver provision is a defense to any contract dispute in Illinois. It did not accept that argument. While the court noted that there was no express or implied preemption in the FAA, it said preemption can also be found where state law specifically conflicts with federal law. After examining how the FAA and the Nursing Home Care Act have been interpreted, it concluded that this is such a case. It cited Southland Corp. v. Keating, 465 U.S. 1, 79 L. Ed. 2d 1, 104 S. Ct. 852 (1984), in which the Supreme Court found that the FAA applies in state court and preempts conflicting state laws. The majority opinion specifically addressed the issue at hand, saying a state law governing investment contracts was not a “ground… for revocation of any contract,” but only for contracts that fall under that law. Similarly, in Preston v. Ferrer, 552 U.S. 346, 169 L.Ed. 2d 917, 128 S. Ct. 978 (2008), the Supreme Court found that an arbitration contract was enforceable even though state law referred the underlying dispute to an administrative agency.
Thus, the Supreme Court said, the lower courts were wrong to believe that the Nursing Home Care Act (or other state laws) could only be preempted by the FAA if it singled out arbitration. It also rejected an argument from the Attorney General that the right to a jury trial is too fundamental to be waived, noting that “it is axiomatic” that parties may make arbitration agreements. However, the court noted that there are numerous other issues in this case, including whether the nursing home contract constituted interstate commerce under the FAA. Thus, it reversed and remanded the case to the Fifth District for consideration of those issues.
Promissory estoppel is an affirmative cause of action in Illinois, the Illinois Supreme Court decided April 2. Newton Tractor Sales v. Kubota Tractor Corporation, Ill. Sup. Co. No. 106798, (April 2, 2009). In this Illinois business lawsuit, the court allowed plaintiff Newton Tractor Sales to continue its lawsuit against defendants Kubota Tractor Corporation and Michael Jacobson for allegedly reneging on a promise to make Newton an authorized dealer of Kubota farm equipment.
Unfortunately, Kubota’s corporate office denied Newton’s application, as well as a later appeal for reconsideration. Newton sued Kubota for promissory estoppel, common-law fraud and negligent misrepresentation. A Fayette County court granted Kubota summary judgment on all three counts, and after an appeal, the appellate court affirmed that judgment. On the promissory estoppel count, both courts found that Illinois appellate decisions said promissory estoppel is not a recognized cause of action in Illinois. Newton appealed as to the promissory estoppel claim to the Illinois Supreme Court.
Statements in an advertisement for a men’s clothing retailer may have been in poor taste, but they are still protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the Illinois Supreme Court has ruled. In Imperial Apparel Ltd. v. Cosmo’s Designer Direct Inc., Ill., No. 103331 (Feb. 7, 2008), retailer Imperial Apparel sued Cosmo’s after the latter retailer ran an advertisement insulting a competitor that was widely understood to be Imperial. Objecting to Imperial’s appropriation of Cosmo’s signature “3 for 1” sales policy, the Cosmo’s ad disparaged Imperial’s quality and business practices. The ad also used references to the Jewish heritage of the family that owned Imperial, the Rosengartens.
The Rosengartens and Imperial sued Cosmo’s and the Chicago Sun-Times, the newspaper that ran the advertisement. They made claims against both defendants for defamation per se, defamation per quod, false light invasion of privacy, commercial disparagement and violations of the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act. The Cook County trial court in the case dismissed all of their complaints, with prejudice, on the grounds that the advertisement was protected free speech under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. That court used a fact versus opinion test — were the statements intended as opinion? It concluded yes.
The Rosengartens appealed and had better luck with the appellate court, which reversed the false light, consumer fraud and commercial disparagement claims as to all plaintiffs. It also reversed the defamation per quod claim as to the Rosengartens personally, but not Imperial, because the Rosengartens could not show that they personally were financially harmed. However, it upheld the dismissal of the defamation per se count. Citing a paragraph in which Cosmo’s accused Imperial and the Rosengartens of “inflat[ing] prices and compromis[ing] quality,” it found that a reasonable reader could interpret those statements as facts. Cosmo’s and the Sun-Times then made the instant appeal.
Until recently, under the Illinois Vehicle code (625 ILCS 5/18c–7402(1)(b)), trains that blocked any road crossing for more than 10 minutes were subject to traffic tickets. That law was overturned in January when the state Supreme Court ruled that the blocked-crossing law violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution and the Federal Railroad Safety Authorization Act (FRSA). The opinion in Eagle Marine Industries, Inc. v. Union Pacific Railroad Company, 102462 (January 2008), a business dispute, reversed a preliminary injunction against Union Pacific issued by a circuit court in Sauget, near St. Louis, and upheld by an appeals court. It relies on the same court’s decision earlier that month in The Village of Mundelein v. Wisconsin Central Railroad, 103543 (January 2008), which upheld an appellate court’s decision to vacate a large fine against the railroad.
In Mundelein, the village issued a $14,000 fine to Wisconsin Central under a local ordinance that prohibited a train blocking a highway-grade crossing for more than 10 minutes unless it had broken down or was continuously moving. The Wisconsin Central train blocked such a crossing for 157 minutes. At the ensuing trial, the court rejected the argument that the FRSA preempted the local law. However, that decision was reversed on appeal.
The Illinois Supreme Court agreed, saying that Mundelein’s ordinance, which is based on Illinois’ state law, interfered too much with the FRSA. Because Eagle Marine relied on the state law, the court said, it had to decide that case in the same way as Mundelein. Thus, the Illinois blocked-crossing provision and any local laws based on it were preempted by FRSA and therefore void.
The Illinois Supreme Court handed a victory to plaintiffs throughout Illinois with its 2006 ruling in an insurance dispute over whether insurers must cover the costs of a junk fax class action lawsuit for an insured covered for an “advertising injury.” In Valley Forge Insurance Co. v. Swiderski Electronics, Inc., 2006 Ill. LEXIS 1655, the state Supreme Court ruled that business insurers have a duty to defend “junk fax” class action lawsuits.
The underlying dispute in the Illinois Supreme Court case started when private investigator Ernie Rizzo filed a proposed class action lawsuit against Swiderski Electronics for sending him “junk faxes.” Unsolicited advertisements sent via fax violate both the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act and the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Swiderski had an insurance policy from Valley Forge Insurance Company, which insured Swiderski against a personal or advertising injury that arises out of “Oral or written publication, in any manner, of material that violates a person’s right of privacy[.]” The insurer claimed that because the faxes had not revealed Rizzo’s own personal information, they did not invade his privacy and thus were not covered. They also claimed that sending information via fax does not constitute publication.
The Illinois Home Repair and Remodeling Act does not apply to subcontractors, the state Supreme Court ruled April 3. The court’s decision in MD Electrical Contractors, Inc. v. Abrams, (Il. Sup. Ct. 2008; Doc. No. 104000) resurrected an electrical subcontractor’s breach of implied contract lawsuit against a Napierville family.
The dispute started in 2004, when Abrams family contracted with Apex Builders, Inc. for improvements to their home. MD Electrical Contractors, Inc., did just under $15,000 worth of electrical work on the project as a subcontractor. It was not paid for that work, and in 2005, it sued the family for payment. In its complaint, MD stipulated that it had no contract with them. The Home Repair and Remodeling Act (HRRA) requires repair and remodeling contractors that work with individual homeowners to provide a written contract and a consumers’ rights brochure to customers. Because MD had not provided a contract or a brochure to the defendants, as required by the HRRA, defendants argued that there could be no implied contract, under the plaintiffs’ theory of quantum meruit. They successfully moved to dismiss at the trial court level, but were reversed by the appellate court, which ruled that the HRRA does not apply to subcontractors. The Illinois Supreme Court agreed.

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