Doe v. Bridgeforth

2018 IL App (1st) 170182

102 N.E.3d 710

Jane DOE, Individually and as Parent and Next Friend of Doe Child, Plaintiff–Appellant,

v.Idris BRIDGEFORTH and the Board of Education of the City of Chicago, Defendants–Appellees.

No. 1–17–0182

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, SIXTH DIVISION.

March 9, 2018

Romanucci & Blandin LLC, of Chicago (Bhavani Raveendran, of counsel), for appellant.

Law Department of Board of Education of the City of Chicago, of Chicago (Ronald L. Marmer and Lee Ann Lowder, of counsel), for appellee.

JUSTICE DELORT delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

¶ 1 Doe Child, a student at Ashburn Community Elementary School (Ashburn) in Chicago, was sexually abused by defendant Idris Bridgeforth, an Ashburn faculty member.¹ After Bridgeforth's conduct was discovered, two legal proceedings ensued, one criminal and one civil. The criminal proceeding culminated with Bridgeforth's conviction for criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual assault. See People v. Bridgeforth , 2017 IL App (1st) 143637, 416 Ill.Dec. 773, 86 N.E.3d 1058. The civil proceeding, which is the subject of this appeal, commenced when J.E.'s mother, Jane Doe, sued Bridgeforth for damages under several tort theories, and the Board of Education of the City of Chicago (CPS) for willful and wanton conduct. The case proceeded to trial on (1) the willful and wanton conduct claim against CPS and (2) damages against Bridgeforth. The jury returned verdicts in favor of CPS and Bridgeforth.

¶ 2 Jane Doe's principal contention on appeal is that she is entitled to judgment n.o.v. on the willful and wanton conduct claim because she produced overwhelming evidence establishing that CPS was deliberately indifferent to J.E.'s safety. She also maintains that she is entitled to a new trial because (1) CPS's attorney misstated the law during closing argument, (2) the jury instructions and verdict forms were inaccurate and confusing, and (3) the jury ignored "proven elements of damages." We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

¶ 3 BACKGROUND

¶ 4 On June 18, 2012, Jane Doe, on behalf of herself and of her daughter J.E., filed this lawsuit against Bridgeforth and CPS. The complaint, as later amended, contained five counts. Counts I through III were for battery, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, respectively. These counts were brought against Bridgeforth, a CPS employee who coached J.E.'s basketball and track and field teams.

¶ 5 Count IV, against CPS, was for willful and wanton conduct. It alleged that between August 1, 2009, and June 7, 2012, Bridgeforth transported J.E. to and from basketball and track and field games and practices using his personal vehicle. Count IV further alleged that, between December 1, 2011, and June 7, 2012, Bridgeforth repeatedly sexually assaulted J.E. while she was alone with him in his vehicle and sent her numerous sexually charged text messages. Jane Doe alleged that CPS engaged in willful and wanton conduct by, among other things, "fail[ing] to stop * * * Bridgeforth from harming [J.E.] when they knew that Bridgeforth was repeatedly alone with [J.E.] in his vehicle which was a known violation of CPS policy."

¶ 6 Bridgeforth was served but never appeared in the circuit court and was defaulted before trial. When trial began, the judge told the jury, "[i]t has been judicially determined that [Bridgeforth] committed the acts the Plaintiff alleged." And, when the court instructed the jury after the close of evidence, it told the jury that it had "found" Bridgeforth "liable" and that CPS "is not to be prejudiced by the fact that the liability of * * * Bridgeforth is no longer at issue."

¶ 7 Because of the nature of the issues presented, we must recite the trial evidence in unusual detail. At trial, Jane Doe testified that on the morning of June 6, 2012, she saw several sexually charged text messages on an iPod device J.E. had been using. Jane Doe recognized that the sender's phone number was Bridgeforth's. In the texts, Bridgeforth stated that he loved J.E. and wanted to have sexual intercourse with her. After viewing the texts, Jane Doe went to Ashburn, where she met with Jewel Diaz, the school principal. Shortly afterwards, J.E. arrived at Ashburn and joined the meeting. When asked about the texts, J.E. at first said they "were from [Bridgeforth's] daughter's friend that was a guy." Jane Doe became upset and left the meeting because "[J.E.] was covering up for [Bridgeforth]."

¶ 8 Jane Doe testified that she was unaware that CPS had a transportation policy that required faculty to obtain written permission before using their private vehicles to transport students. She stated that she would have given Bridgeforth written permission to transport J.E. in his personal vehicle had he requested it. However, she testified that "there would be no reason for him to ride alone" with J.E. because "there's a whole team." She further testified that it would have been suspicious for Bridgeforth to ask permission to drive alone with J.E.

¶ 9 On cross-examination, Jane Doe testified that she had an arrangement with Bridgeforth to drive J.E. home after practices when she was not available. She admitted that she "knew that there were times that [he] was bringing" J.E. home. She explained, however, that she "was under the assumption that he was bringing the whole team." Jane Doe admitted that she "never had any suspicion" about Bridgeforth; if she did, she would not have allowed Bridgeforth to give J.E. rides home.

¶ 10 J.E. testified that she attended Ashburn from kindergarten through eighth grade. She was on the track team from fifth to eighth grade, and the basketball team from sixth to eighth grade. Bridgeforth coached both teams. When a team had an away game, the coaches, including Bridgeforth, would transport the players, including J.E., to and from the game. In addition, Bridgeforth also transported J.E. home from practices. She explained that she was often alone with Bridgeforth during these rides.

¶ 11 When J.E. was in eighth grade, Bridgeforth began engaging in a course of sexual misconduct during their car rides. In one incident, Bridgeforth touched J.E.'s inner thigh and chest. Later, while driving J.E. home from a weekend track meet, Bridgeforth felt J.E.'s inner thigh and inserted his finger into her vagina, which J.E. testified was physically painful. In addition, Bridgeforth (1) frequently kissed J.E., (2) tried to coerce her into performing fellatio on him by "pull[ing] my head down into his lap," (3) asked J.E. to have sexual intercourse with him, and (4) fondled himself in front of her.

¶ 12 On June 6, 2012, Jane Doe discovered the text messages that Bridgeforth had sent to J.E. That day, when J.E. arrived at school, she was called into a meeting with Principal Diaz and Jane Doe, where she was asked about Bridgeforth's abuse. J.E. asked to speak to Megan McKay, one of her teachers. J.E. told McKay that Bridgeforth touched her inappropriately.

¶ 13 On cross-examination, J.E. testified that Bridgeforth was well liked at Ashburn and did not have a reputation for "doing inappropriate things." She explained that often when Bridgeforth gave her rides, other children were already in the car. Although J.E. did not know if her mother had given Bridgeforth permission to drive her, she stated that her mother knew that Bridgeforth was taking her home.

¶ 14 Denise Sklenar, a school clerk at Ashburn, testified that CPS had a written transportation policy. The policy, which was read into the record during her testimony, prohibited CPS faculty from using their personal vehicles to transport students unless the faculty member had written permission from the school principal and the student's parent or guardian. Sklenar stated that the policy was enacted "for the safety of the children who go to Ashburn" and to prevent CPS employees from having the opportunity to abuse or assault students.

¶ 15 On cross-examination, Sklenar testified that she never heard Bridgeforth say anything lewd or inappropriate. Sklenar then testified that she did not have any reason to suspect that Bridgeforth would sexually assault J.E.

¶ 16 Tonya Rippy, a teacher at Ashburn, testified that one of the reasons for CPS's transportation policy was to ensure student safety. She agreed that if a teacher transported a student in his or her private vehicle without parental permission, the teacher would be violating the policy and putting the student at risk.

¶ 17 Thereafter, she testified that she was a friend of Jane Doe and that they had a private, verbal agreement for Rippy to drive J.E. to and from school when Jane Doe was unavailable. She did not think written permission was necessary because she was "not wearing [her] teacher hat." She testified that other Ashburn faculty members saw her driving J.E., but that no one ever asked her if she had written permission from Jane Doe. Likewise, Rippy saw Bridgeforth driving students, including J.E., but she never asked if he had permission because she "assumed that permission was granted."

¶ 18 On cross-examination, Rippy testified that Jane Doe was aware that Bridgeforth was driving J.E. She recalled a conversation in which Jane Doe said, "[d]on't worry about her, she has a game. She's going to be coming home with [Bridgeforth]." Rippy understood this to mean that Jane Doe had given Bridgeforth permission to drive J.E. Rippy testified that she never heard Bridgeforth say anything sexual or inappropriate, and that nothing about Bridgeforth stood out in her mind as a "red flag" that she "should have caught in hindsight."

¶ 19 Leroy Martin, a special education teacher at Ashburn, testified that he coached Ashburn's football team with Bridgeforth. He stated that if he saw a student getting into a faculty member's private vehicle, he would "probably" ask a superior if the faculty member had permission to transport the student. He explained that a faculty...