Graham v. Lakeview Pantry

Appellate Court of Illinois
2019 IL App (1st) 182003 (2020)

ELI5:

Rule of Law:

A tenant does not owe a duty of care to an invitee for injuries sustained in a common area when the lease grants the landlord exclusive control over that area. A premises liability claim against a property owner is barred by the 10-year construction statute of repose if it is based on an act or omission in the design or construction of an improvement to real property that occurred more than 10 years before the action was brought.

Facts:

On January 17, 2015, Jake Graham visited the Lakeview Pantry, located in the basement of St. Alphonsus Hall, to receive donated food items.
St. Alphonsus Hall is owned and operated by the Catholic Bishop of Chicago (the Archdiocese), which leased a portion of the basement to Lakeview Pantry.
Graham entered the building by stepping up approximately 10-11 inches over a threshold without incident.
While exiting through the same doorway, Graham was carrying a 20-pound box that obstructed his view and was distracted by a conversation with a Lakeview Pantry volunteer.
Believing the interior floor and the exterior asphalt were level, Graham stepped over the threshold, encountered the unexpected drop, lost his balance, and stumbled.
After stumbling, Graham fell into a one-foot deep landscape trench adjacent to the asphalt path and struck a metal fence, suffering head injuries.
The lease agreement between the Archdiocese and Lakeview Pantry granted the Pantry a 'non-exclusive right' to use 'Access Areas' like the entryway, but stipulated that these areas remained under the control of the Archdiocese.
The asphalt outside the door was installed in 2002, and the door and threshold were installed in 2003, both more than 10 years before Graham's 2015 fall.

Procedural Posture:

Jake Graham filed a premises liability action against Lakeview Pantry and the Archdiocese in the Circuit Court of Cook County.
Lakeview Pantry and the Archdiocese filed separate motions for summary judgment.
The trial court granted the summary judgment motions in favor of both defendants.
Graham's subsequent motion to reconsider was denied by the trial court.
Graham, as plaintiff-appellant, appealed the grant of summary judgment to the Appellate Court of Illinois, First District.

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Issue:

Are a tenant and its landlord entitled to summary judgment on a premises liability claim where the injury occurred in a common area over which the lease gave the landlord exclusive control, and the landlord's alleged negligence stems from construction completed more than 10 years prior to the injury?

Opinions:

Majority - Justice Lavin

Yes. A tenant is not liable for injuries in a common area where the lease explicitly places control with the landlord, and a landlord is not liable for injuries related to construction defects when the claim is filed after the 10-year statute of repose has expired. Regarding Lakeview Pantry, the court determined that liability is dictated by control over the premises. The lease agreement unambiguously gave the Archdiocese, as landlord, control over the common 'Access Areas,' including the entryway where Graham fell. Therefore, Lakeview Pantry, as the tenant, owed no duty of care to Graham for an injury in that area. The Pantry's occasional courtesy maintenance, like sweeping or salting, was insufficient to constitute an assumption of control that would override the clear terms of the lease. Regarding the Archdiocese, the court found the claim was barred by Illinois's 10-year construction statute of repose. The alleged defects—the threshold and the drop-off—were part of improvements constructed in 2002 and 2003. Since the injury and subsequent lawsuit occurred more than 10 years after construction, the statute provided an absolute bar to the claim. The court also rejected Graham's argument that the unmaintained landscape trench was the proximate cause, finding it was both forfeited (raised too late) and based on speculation.

Analysis:

This decision reinforces the fundamental tort principle that premises liability follows control, demonstrating how a clearly drafted lease can insulate a tenant from liability for injuries in common areas. It underscores the importance for commercial tenants and landlords to explicitly allocate responsibility for maintenance and safety in their lease agreements. The case also serves as a strong illustration of the dispositive power of a statute of repose, which provides a definitive cutoff for liability related to construction, unlike a statute of limitations which runs from the date of injury. This provides finality and certainty for architects, engineers, and property owners involved in the improvement of real property.

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