Court Opinion

ID: 9737339
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 19:22:24.983303+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:23:58.218184
License: Public Domain

PRESIDING JUSTICE KARNS, dissenting: I disagree with the majority’s conclusion that plaintiff’s complaint states a cause of action for common law negligence. Plaintiff’s complaint alleges that “plaintiff’s decedent was a customer and patron of defendants’ establishment,” that “plaintiff’s decedent consumed drinks and became intoxicated and unconscious,” and that “while intoxicated and unconscious” decedent was removed from the tavern by defendants’ agents and employees. In so pleading, plaintiff went beyond alleging a breach of duty stemming from defendants’ status as a possessor of land. In Lessner v. Hurtt (1977), 55 Ill. App. 3d 195, 197, 371 N.E.2d 125, 126, the court examined the pleadings and emphasized that “plaintiff’s amended complaint made no reference or allegation regarding whether defendant Hurtt purchased liquor at Ramada or became intoxicated by reason thereof.” In concluding that Lessner is distinguishable on this basis, I do not believe that form has been elevated over substance. See Zeh v. Wheeler (1986), 111 Ill. 2d 266, 278, 489 N.E.2d 1342, 1348. Examination of the pleadings leads to the inescapable conclusion that plaintiff’s action is predicated on the sale or supply of liquor. It is well established that the Dramshop Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1983, ch. 43, par. 135) is the exclusive remedy against tavern owners and operators for injuries caused by an intoxicated person or in consequence of the intoxication of any person (Wimmer v. Koenigseder (1985), 108 Ill. 2d 435, 484 N.E.2d 1088), and it was undisputed at oral argument that plaintiff had indeed recovered a settlement pursuant to the Dramshop Act. The supreme court has taken an expansive view of the Dramshop Act and has failed to recognize common law liability for the negligent sale or supply of liquor, concluding that the Act is plaintiff’s exclusive remedy where the sale or supply of liquor leads to injury. (See Wimmer v. Koenigseder (1985), 108 Ill. 2d 435, 442, 484 N.E.2d 1088, 1092; Cunningham v. Brown (1961), 22 Ill. 2d 73, 77, 174 N.E.2d 157, 160.) The trial court correctly granted defendants’ motion for judgment on the pleadings. Cardinal Glass Co. v. Board of Education (1983), 113 Ill. App. 3d 442, 444, 447 N.E.2d 546, 547.