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Brooks v. Midwest Grain Products of Illinois, Inc.

Case Date: 03/01/2000
Court: 3rd District Appellate
Docket No: 3-99-0183

Brooks v. Midwest Grain Products of Illinois, Inc., No. 3-99-0183

3rd District, 1 March 2000

DENNY BROOKS,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

MIDWEST GRAIN PRODUCTS OF ILLINOIS, INC.,

Defendant-Appellee.

Appeal from the Circuit Court of the 10th JudicialCircuit Tazewell County, Illinois

No. 97--L--55

Honorable John A. Barra, Judge, Presiding

JUSTICE BRESLIN delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff Denny Brooks filed this negligence suit against defendant Midwest Grain Products of Illinois, Inc. (Midwest Grainor Midwest), following an accident in which Brooks was injured. Relying on our decision in Fris v. Personal Products Co.,255 Ill. App. 3d 916, 627 N.E.2d 1265 (1994), the trial court issued summary judgment to Midwest, finding that Midwestdid not owe Brooks a duty of care. However, material issues of fact exist with respect to whether Midwest retainedsufficient control of the work in which Brooks was engaged when he fell. Consequently, we reverse and remand for furtherproceedings to determine whether Midwest owed Brooks a duty of care.

At the time of the events surrounding this litigation, Brooks worked as an ironworker for General Power ConstructionCompany (General Construction or General). General Construction and Midwest Grain had a long-standing relationshipwhereby General performed construction work for Midwest at its processing facility. While engaging in welding work toinstall an engine mount on a barge terminal, Brooks fell approximately 20 feet from a suspended platform. He was notwearing a safety harness, despite a General Construction safety rule that required him to do so.

Brooks subsequently sued Midwest for negligence and for violation of the Structural Work Act (740 ILCS 150/1 et seq.(West 1994)(Repealed by Pub. Act 89-2,