Weird attempt to recover damages against a youth sports organization for actions of youth on his own
James H. (Jim) Moss, JD
Attorney and Counselor at Law, Specializing in Outdoor Recreation and Adventure Travel Law
Just a look at how far some plaintiffs, (or an insurance company) will go to recover money. At the same time, it is nice to know that they lost this attempt.
State: Illinois, Appellate Court of Illinois, Fifth District
Plaintiff: Jimmy Loosier, a Minor, by Joyce Loosier, his Mother
Defendant: Youth Baseball and Softball, Inc
Plaintiff Claims: negligence and punitive damages
Defendant Defenses: no duty
Holding: for the defendant
Year: 1986
Summary
Non-profit youth organization is not responsible for youth in its program when they are on their own selling tickets for the organization to raise money. Parents are responsible for their kids, unless the youth organization takes steps to be responsible.
Facts
This cause of action arose out of personal injuries suffered by the minor plaintiff when he was struck by a truck while trying to cross Interstate Route 57 west of Benton. Plaintiff filed suit alleging that defendant was negligent in that it was guilty of a breach of a duty owed the plaintiff to supervise, watch over, and care for the plaintiff while the plaintiff was selling baseball raffle tickets.
The defendant, Youth Baseball and Softball, Inc., is a not-for-profit organization which raises funds through raffle ticket sales. Each year prizes are given to the baseball participants who sell the most raffle tickets. The minor plaintiff, Jimmy Loosier, was a member of a baseball team which was under the supervision of the defendant's summer baseball program. Members of the baseball team participated voluntarily with their parents’ permission in the sale of raffle tickets to give away a new automobile as a means of financing the costs of the baseball program.
The raffle tickets were issued to the coaches who then issued tickets to the players to be sold by them. The tickets were initially distributed in lots of 10 to each child by the team coach. After the children sold their initial 10 tickets, they could get more tickets on
with their parents’ permission. After the initial 10 tickets were issued to a child, Youth Baseball did not issue any more tickets to the children but, rather, gave them to the children's parents when their parents asked for additional tickets. Selling the raffle tickets was pure
the voluntary decision of each child and his parents. If a child did not participate in the fund-raising activities, the child lost no privileges.
Youth Baseball warned the children, upon distributing the initial 10 raffle tickets to each child who participated, not to sell them by themselves and not to go out without their parents’ permission. Although some individual coaches took their baseball players out to sell tickets periodically, it was understood that the overall duty of supervision lay with the child's parents and not with Youth Baseball.
The plaintiff, Jimmy Loosier, was 11 years old at the time of his injury on July 22, 1982. He had been selling raffle tickets for the youth Baseball program for four years when the accident occurred. When Loosier first began selling raffle tickets his mother warned him about places he should not go, people he should not sell to, and streets and highways he should avoid. She had instructed him to stop, look and listen when crossing streets. The minor plaintiff had also been instructed in safety on highway crossing at school.
On July 22, 1982, plaintiff went to the Wal-Mart store, which was approximate two miles from his home and across Interstate Route 57, west of Benton. Prior to the accident, Jimmy Loosier had gone to the shopping mall where the Wal-Mart store is located on his own or with his friends 10 to 20 times in order to sell raffle tickets or just to “goof off.” The majority of the times the plaintiff had gone to Wal-Mart to sell tickets, he had gone without adult supervision. Jimmy's mother knew when he went out to the mall by himself or with his friends and that there was no adult with them.
On the particular day the plaintiff was injured while crossing Interstate Route 57, he informed his mother he was going to Wal-Mart to sell raffle tickets. However, another reason plaintiff wanted to go to Wal-Mart that day was to simply “get out of the house” because he was bored. Mrs. Loosier saw that Jimmy had his little black bag with the tickets when he left the house. She knew that Youth Baseball was not providing people to accompany her son whenever he went to sell tickets; yet, she permitted him to sell the tickets anyway.
After arriving at the mall the plaintiff sold seven or eight tickets. Then Johnny Hines and some other kids asked Loosier to steal a “hot wheels car” from Wal-Mart. When Loosier refused, they said they were going to “beat the heck out” of plaintiff if he didn't. Loosier then left Wal-Mart. While he was standing out in the parking lot, Loosier saw the other kids coming outside so he began running. As he was running, he could see Hines and the other children following him on bikes. Loosier ran toward Interstate 57 and made it safe across the southbound lanes of the interstate. When he was in the middle of the northbound portion of the interstate, he saw a semi-truck approaching. He slid and then started to scoot back up and the truck ran over his leg.
Analysis: making sense of the law based on these facts.
The plaintiff argued the organization owed the youth a duty of supervision while he was selling tickets. The trial court disagreed and dismissed the case resulting in this appeal. The court then reviewed a negligence claim in detail as required in Illinois.
The first requirement, even before duty is that the parties have a relationship.
It is fundamental that there can be no recovery in tort for negligence unless the defendant has committed a breach of duty owed to the plaintiff. Whether under the facts of a given case, such a relationship exists between the parties so as to require a legal obligation be imposed upon one for the benefit of another is a question of law to be determined by the court. In the absence of any showing upon which the court could infer the existence of a duty, no recovery is possible as a matter of law and summary judgment in favor of the defendant is proper.
If the law imposes a duty on the defendant, it must be based on the likelihood of the injury versus the burden of guarding against it. A quasi balancing test to some extent. Foreseeability is determined after the court as determined there is a duty.
“Whether a defendant should have 'foreseen’ harm to a party injured is the test to be used by a jury in determining negligence. 'Foreseeability’ enters into the negligence format only after the court has concluded that, at the time of the occurrence in question, the defendant was under a duty to guard against injury to the plaintiff
There are many factors other than foreseeability that may condition a judge's imposing or not imposing a duty in the particular case, but the only factors for the jury to consider in determining the negligence issue are expressed in the foreseeability formula.
The court then examined the facts in this case and applied the law it had stated.
Youth Baseball provides a service to the community by sponsoring sports activities for young people without charge and it raises money for these activities by the sale of raffle tickets by its members on a voluntary basis. The sale of tickets is done only with parental permission. Ticket sales are made by the players at times other than when they are under the supervision of the coaches on the playing field. In fact, the ticket sales are made by the youths who participate in the program at any time when they are not either playing or practicing.
The court, to some extent, applied a balance test here looking at the likelihood of the injury to the burden of guarding against the injury.
We find that public policy does not require that citizens, who do volunteer work in coaching baseball and softball teams, provide supervision of all team members at the time when a team member is engaged in the activity of selling a raffle ticket. We find that the contrary is dictated by public policy, because such a requirement would impose an unreasonable burden upon those who operate and sponsor the Youth Baseball program.
The court determined it was impossible and burdensome to require the youth program to supervise the minors at all hours of the day and night. The burden of care lies with the parents. The court then reviewed the facts where the burden or duty of care in this case had always remained with the parents.
In the case at bar, we find that the care and control of the minor was with his parents. At the time of the accident the care of the minor had not been entrusted to youth Baseball. Loosier was selling tickets with the consent of his parents. He had gone to the shopping center with his friends with his mother's permission to sell tickets which were obtained from the defendant by his father.
The only involvement of the defendant had been providing the tickets, which required the permission of the parents. There was no duty of supervision that could be placed on the defendant.
So Now What?
Those reading this article is a constant reminded that parents (and/or guardians) have the total control over their children. You as a coach, youth leader or volunteer must always make sure that you never do anything to imply that you are removing that duty from the parents, if you do, you are, then liable for the actions of the youth.
The more parental involvement in a program, the less likely the program will be sued because there is never any doubt that the parents have not relinquished their duty to supervise and control their children.
As a volunteer or even paid adult working with youth, you must constantly reinforce that you are acting with the parent’s permission, but they have the total control of the acts and situation and can revoke that permission at any time.
What do you think? Leave a comment.
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By Recreation Law [email protected] James H. Moss