In Quiroz v. Chicago Transit Authority, 2022 IL 127603 (September 22, 2022), THE Plaintiff filed a wrongful death suit against the Chicago Transit Authority resulting from the decedent being struck by a transit train after he trespassed into a CTA tunnel and fell next to the tracks.
The Cook County circuit court held that the CTA owed no legal duty to protect the decedent from the open and obvious danger of a moving train. The appellate court reversed, finding the allegations in the complaint sufficient to establish a legally recognized duty under section 337 of the Restatement (Second) of Torts (Restatement (Second) of Torts ? 337 (1965)) where plaintiff alleged that the decedent was a discovered trespasser in a position of peril.
The question on appeal was whether the CTA owed a duty of care to the decedent. Of course, whether a duty exists is a question of law for the court to decide. The Court determined that section 337(b) cannot be satisfied because the CTA would have no reason to believe that a trespasser would not appreciate the danger posed by a moving rapid transit train. The Illinois Supreme Court reversed the appellate court, finding that section 337 did not apply to an open and obvious danger and that no further duty was owed under the circumstances alleged and where the plaintiff did not allege willful or wanton misconduct.