The Illinois Supreme Court ruled in a personal injury case that Brookfield Zoo should not have the same protections as governmental organizations in Illinois, despite it being situated on public land.<\/p>\n
On Sept. 24, the state high court ruled that the zoo fails important parts of the test used to decide whether it is a \u201cpublic entity\u201d under state law. It is not protected by the Illinois Tort Immunity law, which has a one-year statute of limitations.<\/p>\n
Mary Jane Theis authored the unanimous opinion of the court. The ruling upheld an opinion of the Illinois First District Appellate Court, authored by Justice Terrence Lavin, which itself overturned a ruling by Judge John P. Kirby of Cook County Circuit Court.<\/p>\n
The personal injury lawsuit was brought in 2012 by Kristine O’Toole against the Chicago Zoological Society, which is the entity operating Brookfield Zoo. O’Toole alleged that she suffered injuries in 2010 when she tripped and (more…)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Illinois Supreme Court ruled in a personal injury case that Brookfield Zoo should not have the same protections as governmental organizations in Illinois, despite it being situated on public land. On Sept. 24, the state high court ruled that…<\/span><\/p>\n