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Lombardo v. Reliance Elevator Company6/30/2000
Appeal from the Circuit Court of Cook County Honorable Themis Karnezis, Judge Presiding.
Plaintiff, Dominic Lombardo, suffered injuries when the lift he was riding suddenly fell. A jury rejected the claim against the party who maintained the lift, but found the building's owner liable. The building owner and plaintiff filed separate appeals, which we consolidated.
Plaintiff worked in the maintenance department of Avenue National Bank in Oak Park. He had a small office in the basement. When he received an emergency call on November 30, 1994, he took a sidewalk lift to get from the basement to the parking lot. The lift rose to within a foot of sidewalk level, but then it suddenly fell to the basement, bringing plaintiff down with it. Plaintiff sustained severe injuries to both feet.
Oak Park paid Edwin Jacobitz to inspect all the elevators and lifts in the village twice a year. When he inspected the sidewalk lift in October 1993, he wrote in his remarks:
"Replace hoist cable, very rusty and dry. * Have this done by Nov. 1 1993."
Oak Park mailed to the bank a copy of Jacobitz' report. When Jacobitz next inspected the lift in February 1994, he made no remarks.
After Jacobitz retired, Oak Park contracted with Elevator Inspection Service (EIS) for the inspections. Thomas Bush, an employee of EIS, noted no problems with the lift when he inspected it in August 1994.
The bank paid Reliance Elevator Company to examine and oil the lift once every three months. On November 11, 1994, Reliance performed its regular maintenance and inspection, noting no problems with the lift.
Plaintiff sued Reliance for negligent maintenance, and he sued EIS and Jacobitz for negligent inspections. He also sued W.S. Partners (WS), the beneficiary of the trust which held title to the building, claiming WS had a duty to maintain the lift in safe condition. WS counterclaimed against the three other defendants. Reliance filed a third-party claim for contribution against the bank. WS, Reliance, and the bank all admitted that they did not replace the cable between October 1993, when Jacobitz found it defective, and plaintiff's accident in November 1994. Jacobitz, EIS, and the bank reached settlements with plaintiff. Reliance and WS agreed that the jury's apportionment of responsibility on trial of the complaint would govern the apportionment of liability for purposes of the counterclaim.
The court denied most of the numerous motions in limine the parties presented.
At trial plaintiff admitted that the lift had a "no passengers" sign. He rode the lift perhaps two or three times a year. No one told him not to ride the lift, and he never asked why it had the sign.
One of plaintiff's co-workers testified that as part of his work he periodically needed to take a quantity of plastic containers out of the bank. He would put them on a cart, push the cart onto the sidewalk lift, and then he would ride the lift with the cart to the sidewalk. He said he had to ride the lift because the lift had no walls, rails, or anything to tie down the cart. The cart could roll on the lift, and if it rolled to the side, it could obstruct the lift, damaging it. Once the cart reached the sidewalk, someone in the basement needed to run the lift to bring it back down. The only control panel was in the basement, near the lift. He could operate the controls easily while standing on the lift.
Plaintiff's supervisor, in charge of building maintenance, testified that the letter from Oak Park regarding the sidewalk lift should have come to his attention. He did not remember ever seeing the letter. As far as he knew, no o
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