Recreational Property Negligence :: essays research papers

M E M O R A N D U MTOFROM interlockingRECole Gershwin- Immunity for Negligence on Recreational Property_________________________________________________________I.STATEMENT OF FACTSOur Client, Mr. Cole Gershwin, is considering suit against the Chicago School District for injuries sustained as a result of tripping in a pothole. Gershwin, a teacher at Washington Elementary School, alleges that on October 10, 2000 at 1220 pm, he was walking from the school to the teachers parking sight, and tripped in a pothole and fell.The walkway where Gershwin fell is adjacent to a parking lot that was born-again from a portion of the playground area. The walkway is utilize by teachers to travel to and from the parking lot. The walkway is marked with yellow stripes and is bordered on the Confederate edge by orange construction cones that the school is going to replace with additional fencing. There is a sign on the fence separating the parking lot from the walkway that reads Walkway for Teachers Only. Students occasionally use the walkway as a safe zone for games of tag.II.QUESTION PRESENTEDWhether school property, classified as recreational and quick used by students during their recreation, immune from civil action under the Illinois Tort Immunity Act 3-106 when the school has the area sectioned off implying that it does not represent for the property to be used recreationally.III.CONCLUSIONNo. The elements necessary to make the property recreational are not satisfied in this situation. The school dominion shows no intended use of the property for recreational purposes, nor does it show permitted use of the property for recreational purposes. Although the walkway is occasionally used by children for games of tag, this is incidental example of the property, and thus 3-106 is inapplicable. Additionally, the primary purpose of the walkway is to facilitate travel to and from the parking lot, making the walkway nonrecreational in character. IV.DISCUSSIONImmunity from liab ility is find by examining the character of the property in question. In order to establish immunity, the school board must show intent for the property to be used for recreation, or that the property is permitted to be used for recreational purposes, where that use is not incidental. Factors that weigh on the courts decision to identify property as recreational include the overall usefulness of the walkway to facilitate access to the recreational facility, the primary purpose of the walkway, and viewing the property in question as a unified whole.