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Ryan v. Yarbrough2/4/2005
The City of Naperville and its employee, Robert E. Yarbrough (collectively, the City), appeal from the dismissal with prejudice of their third-party contribution complaint against Patricia Ryan. Patricia Ryan's grandson, Nicholas Ryan, was injured in an accident involving a City truck driven by Yarbrough, and Nicholas's parents sued defendants on Nicholas's behalf. The City filed contribution complaints against Nicholas's parents and grandmother, Patricia, who was baby-sitting Nicholas at the time of the accident. On appeal, the City argues that the trial court erred in dismissing the amended contribution complaint, because the amended complaint sufficiently alleged that Patricia negligently supervised Nicholas when she gave Nicholas permission to skateboard in the street, in violation of certain City ordinances. We agree with the City and reverse the dismissal of the amended complaint.
On August 9, 2000, Nicholas, who was then six years old, was riding a skateboard on a residential street in Naperville when he and a Naperville truck driven by Yarbrough collided, causing Nicholas injuries. Nicholas's parents, Timothy Ryan and Shannon Hoban-Ryan, sued the City on Nicholas's behalf, alleging that Yarbrough was acting within the scope of his City employment at the time of the accident and that he caused the accident by driving carelessly. The City filed a counterclaim for contribution against Nicholas's parents, and, once they learned that Patricia was caring for Nicholas at the time of the accident, they filed a third-party complaint for contribution against her as well. The original complaint was dismissed and the City filed an amended complaint.
The City's amended complaint alleged that, just before the accident, Patricia gave Nicholas permission to skateboard on the street. The City stated that skateboarding on the street violated two City ordinances and that Nicholas's specific actions while skateboarding violated several traffic laws. The City alleged that Patricia had a duty "to exercise ordinary caution and care for the safety of the minor Plaintiff, Nicholas Hoban, and to supervise him so that he did not violate any laws." Patricia moved to dismiss the complaint under section 2--615 of the Code of Civil Procedure (735 ILCS 5/2--615 (West 2000)), contending that the City failed to plead a claim for negligent supervision by failing to allege that Patricia had the requisite degree of control over Nicholas as required by section 316 of the Restatement (Second) of Torts. Restatement (Second) of Torts ยง316 (1965). The City responded that Patricia did have the opportunity to prevent Nicholas from violating the ordinances banning skateboarding in streets, because she specifically gave him permission to skateboard in the street. The court dismissed the complaint with prejudice, ruling that "the cases are very clear in that there must be that immediate vicinity where there can be control in regard to those acts of negligence * of that minor child." The City now appeals, contending that it sufficiently pleaded Patricia's negligence when it alleged that she gave Nicholas permission to skateboard in the street and that skateboarding in the street is a violation of City ordinances.
A trial court should grant a motion to dismiss a complaint under section 2--615 of the Code only when the allegations in the complaint, construed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, fail to state a cause of action upon which relief can be granted. Oliveira v. Amoco Oil Co., 201 Ill. 2d 134, 147 (2002). The court must accept as true all well-pleaded facts and inferences drawn from those facts. Oliveira, 201 Ill. 2d at 147. The complaint is to be construed liberally and should be dismissed only when it
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