Opinion ID: 2092747
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Waiver of Negligence Claim

Text: Defendant argues that plaintiff has waived any claim of negligence against him. Specifically, defendant contends that plaintiff failed to submit a negligence instruction alleging that defendant actually spilled the popcorn. At trial, plaintiff tendered both negligence and willful and wanton jury instructions. The negligence jury instructions were refused, over plaintiff's objection. Plaintiff then submitted, and the trial court accepted, a willful and wanton jury instruction setting forth particularized averments of wrongdoing by defendant. The instruction alleged that defendant: (1) permitted and allowed kernels of popcorn to litter a common area with a hard glazed tile surface; (2) failed to remove popcorn kernels littering the floor; (3) failed to summon housekeeping to sweep up the popcorn kernels; (4) failed to blockade the area to prevent people from walking there until a cleanup could be made; and (5) failed to warn plaintiff not to walk there. Defendant now argues that plaintiff's failure to submit a negligence jury instruction containing similar particularized averments of negligence constitutes waiver of any negligence claim. We disagree. Plaintiff's failure to submit a negligence jury instruction containing specific averments of negligence does not result in waiver. It was sufficient that plaintiff submitted alternate instructions stating the law of negligence. See Auton v. Logan Landfill, Inc. (1984), 105 Ill.2d 537, 549, 86 Ill.Dec. 438, 475 N.E.2d 817 (party may appeal jury instructions issued if the party tenders alternate instructions which set forth the law the party contends was proper). Moreover, the realities of trial practice support our conclusion that no waiver occurred. In general, specific averments of wrongdoing contained in a jury instruction are not determined until the instructions conference at the close of the evidence. Since the trial court ruled at the instructions conference that the standard of care was something other than negligence, plaintiff was unable to confer with defendant or the judge regarding particularized averments of negligence.