Gerrity v. Beatty

On October 20, 1973, the 15-year-old plaintiff, Matthew Patrick Gerrity, suffered severe injuries while making a tackle in a junior varsity football game conducted by Downers Grove South Community High School where he was enrolled as a sophomore. He thereafter filed a multicount personal injury action seeking damages from the manufacturer of the football helmet he was wearing, his attending physician, the hospital in which he received treatment, the city of Downers Grove, whose fire department personnel transported him to the hospital, and the defendant school district. This appeal is concerned solely with count VI of the complaint, which alleged ordinary negligence on the part of the defendant school district in furnishing plaintiff with an ill-fitting and inadequate football helmet. The trial court granted the district's motion to strike count VI on the ground that under section 34-84a of the School Code (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1973, ch. 122, par. 34-84a), as construed by this court in Kobylanski v. Chicago Board of Education (1976), 63 Ill.2d 165, and as applied to the circumstances set forth in the complaint, the plaintiff could not recover damages unless he alleged and proved willful and wanton conduct on the part of school personnel. We allowed plaintiff's 302(b) motion to transfer to this court his appeal under Rule 304(a) (58 Ill.2d Rules 302(b), 304(a)), the trial court having found there to be no just reason for delaying enforcement and appeal. As a consequence of the public policy considerations favoring the promotion of family harmony and the prevention of intrafamily litigation and strife, it has been recognized as a general rule in this State that children may not maintain actions against their parents for mere negligence but may do so only in the case of willful and wanton misconduct. (Kobylanski v. Chicago Board of Education (1976), 63 Ill.2d 165; Mroczynski v. McGrath (1966), 34 Ill.2d 451; Nudd v. Matsoukas (1956), 7 Ill.2d 608.) In 1965, the General Assembly enacted sections 24-24 and 34-84a of the School Code, which had the effect of extending this limited form of parental immunity to teachers and other certificated educational employees. The former section applies to cities with populations of less than 500,000 while the latter applies to cities with populations greater than 500,000. The pertinent parts of each section are identical and provide as follows: