Kellman v. Twin Orchard Country Club

In Kellman v. Twin Orchard Country Club, 202 Ill. App. 3d 968, 560 N.E.2d 888, 148 Ill. Dec. 291 (1990), the decedent, Morrie Kellman, was taking a shower in the Twin Orchard Country Club locker room when he fell and fractured his cervical spine. Kellman, 202 Ill. App. 3d at 970. There were no witness to Morrie's fall, though another club member, who was also taking a shower at the time, heard a "thud" and then found Morrie lying face down in the shower stall. The other club member had helped Morrie to the showers because he was unsteady walking and had been using the wall to keep his balance. Morrie was taken to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with a cervical spine fracture and quadriplegia. Kellman, 202 Ill. App. 3d at 971. At the hospital, Morrie lost his ability to speak and his son developed a method of communication, whereby he would ask his father very specific questions and his father would answer by blinking once for yes and twice for no. In this way, Morrie supposedly communicated that he slipped on the shower floor because it was slippery and he had not blacked out. Morrie Kellman ultimately died of his injuries, and his family filed a negligence lawsuit against the country club. Kellman, 202 Ill. App. 3d at 970. In Kellman, the country club filed a motion for summary judgment, which the trial court granted, arguing that there were no eyewitnesses to Morrie Kellman's fall and that the plaintiff was unable to prove causation. Kellman, 202 Ill. App. 3d at 972. The Court agreed with the trial court that Morrie's alleged statements to his son by blinking did not qualify under any hearsay exception because the circumstances surrounding them were suggestive and solicited in response to specific questions. Kellman, 202 Ill. App. 3d at 973. The Court affirmed the trial court's granting of summary judgment on the basis that there was insufficient causal link between the alleged negligence of the country club and Morrie's fall. Kellman, 202 Ill. App. 3d at 975. The plaintiff, in that case, relied heavily on expert testimony to establish the condition of the shower stall and the manner in which Morrie fell. The medical testimony showed that Morrie fell forward with accelerating speed and that the injuries were consistent with a shower stall slip and fall. The Court held that none of that testimony addressed the issue of what caused Morrie's fall. The Court further held that the possibility that an unreasonably dangerous condition in the shower stall had caused Morrie to fall was insufficient to establish a causal relationship between the defendant's alleged negligence and Morrie's injuries. Kellman, 202 Ill. App. 3d at 975.