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Hills v. Bridgeview Little League Association6/14/1999
JUSTICE TULLY delivered the opinion of the court:
Plaintiffs, John and Patricia Hills, brought an action against defendants, Bridgeview Little League Association (Bridgeview) and Justice Willow Springs Little League (Justice), seeking damages for John Hills' personal injuries and Patricia Hills' loss of consortium. Plaintiffs' claims arose from the remaining defendants' beating of John Hills during a little league tournament that Justice organized. The jury found in plaintiffs' favor, awarding John Hills $632,710 and Patricia Hills $125,000. In addition, the jury apportioned fault equally to Bridgeview and Justice. The trial court denied Bridgeview's and Justice's requests for post-trial relief. Bridgeview and Justice appeal. Plaintiffs sued the Loys, who are not parties to this appeal, for intentional torts. This court has jurisdiction pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 301 (155 Ill. 2d R. 301).
We affirm for the following reasons.
The relevant facts are as follows. John Hills and his team were members of the Lemont Little League. By invitation, they participated in a tournament that Justice organized, paying an entrance fee and providing a surety bond to Justice. Justice owned the field on which the teams played. On July 30, 1990, Hills' team played one of Bridgeview's teams. Hills was the first base coach for his team. On Bridgeview's team, Ted Loy, the volunteer manager since 1989, had chosen his brother George Loy, Sr. and George Loy, Jr. as his coaches. Ted Loy was the official Bridgeview representative at the Justice tournament on July 30, 1990 because none of the Bridgeview board members were there. Bridgeview never had any evidence that Ted Loy had fought with anyone during any little league games.
During the first inning, the umpire called a conference because one of the Bridgeview coaches disagreed with the umpire's calls. Starting in the third inning, George Loy, Sr. verbally threatened Hills while Hills was coaching at first base. At one point, he came out of the dugout and stood about five feet from Hills, called him a "mother f-----," and said that he was "going to kick his ass." George Loy, Sr. said, "this is for what happened earlier during the first inning." Hills was not worried about Loy because the Bridgeview manager and the Justice umpires were on the field.
According to Rebecca Deverdier, Loy's behavior worsened during the last several innings. In the sixth inning, Loy ran within three feet of Hills' back, flailing his fist and arms. At that point, Patricia Hills asked Michael Putrow, her nephew, to go to first base to see what was happening. Putrow saw Loy acting in a more volatile manner and running within three feet of Hills. Ted Loy was in the dugout the whole time and never did anything to restrain George Loy, Sr.
At the end of the sixth inning, Loy attacked Hills from behind when Hills bent over. Loy beat and kicked Hills. Ted and George Loy, Jr. did nothing to restrain George Loy, Sr. Patricia Hills ran to the first base area and screamed for help. Neither the first base umpire nor the home plate umpire helped John Hills. The Justice announcer did not make any announcements regarding the attack, and did not help Hills. In addition, none of the Loys did anything to restrain each other throughout the attack. In fact, Ted Loy came out of the dugout and kicked John Hills about 10-15 times. George Loy, Jr. then joined the attack.
The attack stopped for about one minute when Lemont's third base coach, George Keeler, separated George Loy, Sr. from Hills. George Loy, Sr. broke away from Keeler and hit Hills again with his fists, breaking Hills' nose. Scott Van Wagner, an umpire, picked up George Loy, Sr. a
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