Opinion ID: 2144159
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 14

Heading: Lost Perishable Inventory

Text: The trial court ruled that the economic loss rule does not bar recovery in tort for those plaintiffs who lost perishable inventory as a result of interrupted electrical service. The appellate court affirmed. We agree. When property damage is caused by disappointed commercial expectations, the economic loss rule bars recovery in tort. Redarowicz, 92 Ill.2d at 177-78, 65 Ill.Dec. 411, 441 N.E.2d 324. Rather, [t]o recover in negligence there must be a showing of harm above and beyond disappointed expectations. Redarowicz, 92 Ill.2d at 177, 65 Ill. Dec. 411, 441 N.E.2d 324. For example, in Redarowicz, the court held that plaintiff's property damage was caused by a construction defect, which was a disappointed commercial expectation. Thus, plaintiff's damages were solely economic losses. However, the court indicated that had plaintiff suffered personal injury or other property damage, he would have been able to recover in tort: This is not a case where defective construction created a hazard that resulted in a member of the plaintiff's family being struck by a falling brick from the chimney. The adjoining wall has not collapsed on and destroyed the plaintiff's living room furniture. The plaintiff is seeking damages for the costs of replacement and repair of the defective chimney, adjoining wall and patio. While the commercial expectations of this buyer have not been met by the builder, the only danger to the plaintiff is that he would be forced to incur additional expenses for living conditions that were less than what was bargained for. (Emphasis added.) Redarowicz, 92 Ill.2d at 178, 65 Ill.Dec. 411, 441 N.E.2d 324. In the present case, class plaintiffs do not seek damages for the loss of continuous electrical service, which is a disappointed commercial expectation. See In re Illinois Bell Switching Station Litigation, 161 Ill.2d at 240-41, 204 Ill.Dec. 216, 641 N.E.2d 440. Rather, class plaintiffs seek damages for property loss, in the form of lost perishable inventory, as a result of a tortious event. Such damages are above and beyond class plaintiffs' disappointed commercial expectation in continuous electrical service. Thus, these losses fall outside the definition of economic loss and are recoverable in tort. See Scott & Fetzer Co. v. Montgomery Ward & Co., 112 Ill.2d 378, 388, 98 Ill.Dec. 1, 493 N.E.2d 1022 (1986); Moorman, 91 Ill.2d at 86, 61 Ill.Dec. 746, 435 N.E.2d 443.