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City of Chicago v. Beretta U.S.A. Corp.11/18/2004
firearms."
a. Economic Loss Doctrine
Defendants assert that the economic loss doctrine adopted by this court in Moorman Manufacturing Co. v. National Tank Co., 91 Ill. 2d 69 (1982), and elaborated upon in In re Chicago Flood Litigation, 176 Ill. 2d 179 (1997), bars plaintiffs' claim for damages. In Moorman, this court held that the plaintiff purchaser of a grain storage tank could not recover in tort from the manufacturer for solely economic loss due to defects in the tank. Moorman, 91 Ill. 2d at 85-86. The theories of liability pleaded by the plaintiff in Moorman were strict liability, negligence, and innocent misrepresentation. Moorman, 91 Ill. 2d at 72.
After citing the landmark case of Seely v. White Motor Co., 403 P.2d 145, 45 Cal. Rptr. 17 (1965), this court adopted the reasoning of Seely to conclude that claims regarding "qualitative defects" in products "are best handled by contract, rather than tort," whether the tort theory asserted is strict liability or negligence. Moorman, 91 Ill. 2d at 75-76, 86. Further, allowing a manufacturer to be subjected to liability in tort for solely economic losses occasioned by a malfunction of its product "would, in effect, make a manufacturer a guarantor that all of its products would continue to perform satisfactorily throughout their reasonably productive life." Moorman, 91 Ill. 2d at 91. This would also encroach upon the prerogative of the legislature in enacting the sales provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code. Moorman, 91 Ill. 2d at 91.
Plaintiffs argue that their claim is not based on the type of commercial interests for which the Moorman doctrine bars recovery. The damages they seek are not the type of economic losses associated with "disappointed commercial expectations" (In re Chicago Flood, 176 Ill. 2d at 200), such as " `damages for inadequate value, costs of repair and replacement of the defective product, or consequent loss of profits,' " and " `the diminution in value of the product because it is inferior in quality and does not work for the general purposes for which it was manufactured and sold' [Citation.]" Moorman, 91 Ill. 2d at 82.
The present case does not involve a claim by the purchaser of a product against the manufacturer or seller of that product for losses caused by a "qualitative defect." Indeed, the firearms manufactured, distributed, and sold by defendants are alleged to have performed properly. Moorman, therefore, does not provide the complete answer.
This court revisited the economic loss doctrine in In re Chicago Flood, a case in which there was no privity of contract between the parties and no allegation that a product was defective. The plaintiffs included a class of individuals and businesses affected by the flooding of a tunnel beneath the Chicago River, allegedly caused by the negligence of the city of Chicago and one of its contractors. In addition, an insurance company, ITT Hartford, the subrogee of several other claimants, brought a separate action in nuisance. In re Chicago Flood, 176 Ill. 2d at 183. Applying the Moorman doctrine, the trial court dismissed the nuisance claim as to Hartford's subrogors who did not incur both an invasion of their property by the flood waters and resulting property damage. In re Chicago Flood, 176 Ill. 2d at 187. On appeal, the appellate court held that the Moorman doctrine did not bar an otherwise proper nuisance claim. In re Chicago Flood, 176 Ill. 2d at 188-89.
This court held that a plaintiff in a private nuisance action may recover all consequential damages flowing from an injury to the plaintiff's person or property. In re Chicago Flood, 176 Ill. 2d at 207. However, because this court found no reason to t
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