Plaintiff file a lawsuit against defendant under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act seeking damages for injuries plaintiff sustained as a passenger in a truck owned by defendant that was involved in an accident. Plaintiff alleged in the complaint that the truck’s seatbelt and airbag failed to properly restrain him. A jury returned a verdict in favor of the defendant plaintiff appealed. On appeal, plaintiff argued that the trial court erred in granting partial summary judgment in favor of defendant, abused its discretion by refusing to give IPI Civil No. 5.01, the missing evidence instruction, and abused its discretion in barring plaintiff from the eliciting the results of a post-incident investigation that concluded the defendant’s employee was speeding at the time of the accident. The appellate court affirmed, finding that the trial court did not err in granting summary judgment on plaintiff’s allegations that defendant was negligent for failing to equip the truck with functional seatbelts and airbags, the trial court’s refusal to tender the missing evidence instruction was not arbitrary, fanciful, or unreasonable, and that the evidence as properly excluded as post-accident remedial measures and, even if it was not, its exclusion did not prejudice the plaintiff. (PUCINSKI and HYMAN, concurring)
Illinois Appellate Court
Civil Court
Negligence