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Paszkowski v. Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago11/18/2004
Docket No. 96220-Agenda 10-January 2004.
In early 2000, plaintiff Marek Paszkowski filed a negligence suit against defendant, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (District), seeking damages for injuries allegedly sustained by plaintiff in 1998 while he was working on the District's deep tunnel construction project. Plaintiff brought his suit in the circuit court of Cook County. The District filed a section 2-619 motion to dismiss plaintiff's claim on the ground that it was not brought within the one-year limitation period in section 8-101 of the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act (Tort Immunity Act) (745 ILCS 10/8-101 (West 1998)). The circuit court granted the motion to dismiss, and plaintiff appealed. The appellate court reversed, holding that plaintiff's claim was governed by the four-year limitation period in section 13-214(a) of the Code of Civil Procedure (Code) (735 ILCS 5/13-214(a) (West 1998)). According to the appellate court, plaintiff's claim was timely filed under section 13-214(a). We allowed the District's petition for leave to appeal. 177 Ill. 2d R. 315(a). We now reverse the judgment of the appellate court.
BACKGROUND
Plaintiff filed his original, one-count complaint on February 9, 2000, seeking damages for injuries allegedly sustained on March 5, 1998. In the complaint, plaintiff alleged negligence on the part of the District with regard to a cement remix car that apparently was involved in the injury to plaintiff. In an amended complaint, plaintiff added three counts (strict liability, breach of warranty, and negligent sale) against the manufacturer of the cement remix car. The only claim at issue in the appeal before us is count I, the claim against the District.
In January 2001, the District moved to dismiss count I of the complaint on the ground that plaintiff failed to file the complaint within the one-year limitation period set forth in section 8-101 of the Tort Immunity Act (745 ILCS 10/8-101 (West 1998)). Plaintiff responded that the proper limitation period was four years as provided in section 13-214(a) of the Code, which applies to construction-related causes of action. The circuit court denied defendant's motion to dismiss. Relying on Zimmer v. Village of Willowbrook, 242 Ill. App. 3d 437 (1993), the circuit court found that section 13-214(a) was the applicable statute and plaintiff therefore had four years, not one year, to bring his claim.
Defendant filed a motion to reconsider, relying upon Greb v. Forest Preserve District, 323 Ill. App. 3d 461 (2001), which was decided 11 days after the circuit court's denial of defendant's motion to dismiss in the case at bar. Greb held that any tort action against a local governmental entity or its employees must be brought within the one-year limitation period in section 8-101 of the Tort Immunity Act, rather than the four-year period in section 13-214(a) of the Code. In light of the decision in Greb, the circuit court in the case at bar granted defendant's motion to reconsider and dismiss count I of plaintiff's amended complaint as time-barred under section 8-101. Pursuant to Rule 304(a) (155 Ill. 2d R. 304(a)), the court found that there was no just reason for delaying enforcement or appeal of its ruling.
Plaintiff appealed, and the appellate court reversed. 338 Ill. App. 3d 781. The appellate court rejected Greb as incorrectly decided, and held that, in the case at bar, it was the four-year limitation period in section 13-214(a) that applied, rather than the one-year period in section 8-101. We allowed defendant's petition for leave to appeal. 177 Ill. 2d R. 315(a). In addition, we granted leave to the followin
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