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On April 7, 2010, the Second District Illinois Appellate Court issued a ruling in Vincent v. Alden-Park Strathmoor, Inc., which examined an issue of first impression in
In Vincent, the plaintiff, the legal representative of the decedent, filed an action against the nursing home for personal injuries that the decedent sustained prior to her death and while in the nursing home’s care. In addition to causes of action pursuant to the NHCA and the Wrongful Death Act, the Complaint contained a cause of action pursuant to the Survival Act, claiming that the nursing home’s willful and wanton violations of the NHCA rendered the nursing home liable for actual damages, costs, and attorney fees. In the same count, the plaintiff reserved the right to seek punitive damages for the nursing home’s alleged willful and wanton conduct.
The defendant nursing home moved to strike plaintiff’s reservation of the right to request punitive damages on the basis that the punitive damages claim did not survive the decedent’s death. The trial court granted the nursing home’s motion to strike. Plaintiff appealed the interlocutory order and the appellate court certified the following issue for appeal:
“Whether common[-]law punitive damages are available in an action brought by the personal representative of the estate of a deceased nursing home resident based on the Survival Act for willful and wanton violations of the Nursing Home Care Act which caused injuries that ultimately claimed her life.”
The Court first emphasized that
The Appellate Court rejected all of the plaintiff’s arguments and concluded that common-law punitive damages are not available in a survival action brought under the NHCA. As noted by the Court, the NHCA “ ‘authorizes’ punitive damages only in the sense that it does not preclude a plaintiff from pursuing other available causes of action in addition to those that are available under the [NHCA].” Such a preclusion does not mean the NHCA provides for punitive damages. The Court went on to explain that there are no “strong equitable considerations” that support the survival of a decedent’s punitive damages claims because the NHCA provides the proper statutory scheme for recovery.
For copies of Vincent v. Alden-Park Strathmoor, Inc., 2010 WL 1388158 (
