Thomas v. Chicago Bd. of Education

We granted the defendants, David Shlemon, Theodore Loomis and Earl Gordon, leave to appeal from an appellate court decision (60 Ill. App.3d 729) reversing an order of the circuit court of Cook County, which had dismissed with prejudice count I of the amended complaint of the plaintiff, Kyle Thomas. Count I of the 11-count complaint alleged that the plaintiff, a high school varsity football player, sustained injuries as a result of the negligence of the defendants, who were his football coaches, and of the defendant Chicago Board of Education (Board), which is not a party to the appeal before us. The allegations of negligence in count I included failure to adequately warn the plaintiff that football is dangerous; failure to provide adequate training for the plaintiff; failure to inspect, yet requiring the plaintiff to use, improperly designed, obsolete, worn, defective or dangerous football helmet, face-mask, padding, football clothing and other equipment; and requiring the plaintiff to play a scheduled varsity football game on a synthetic turf field which was improperly constructed and maintained and was owned by the Board. We are concerned with only the allegation, in count I, of defendants furnishing, but failing to inspect, defective football equipment. Based on the pleadings of the record before us, the facts are as follows. On October 4, 1974, the plaintiff, who was a varsity football player for Lakeview High School, was seriously injured in a regularly scheduled game at Hanson Park Stadium, owned and operated by the Board. The school football program was voluntary, conducted after regular school hours, encompassed practice and scheduled varsity games, and provided the student participants with equipment, including helmets and face masks. Although admission fees were charged to spectators, the players were not compensated. At the time the circuit court dismissed count I, Kobylanski v. Chicago Board of Education (1976), 63 Ill.2d 165, had only recently been handed down, and the following relevant statutory provisions were in effect: Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1973, ch. 85, par. 1-101 et seq., hereafter Tort Immunity Act), and sections 24-24 and 34-84a of the School Code (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1973, ch. 122, pars. 24-24, and 34-84a, which applies to cities over 500,000 (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1973, ch. 122, par. 34-1)), which are identical in the relevant paragraph and provide: