Hollywood Trucking, Inc. v. Watters

State: Illinois

Court: 5th District Appellate

Docket No: 5-06-0231 Rel

Case Date: 09/18/2008

Preview:Rule 23 order filed August 5, 2008; Motion to publish granted September 18, 2008.

NO. 5-06-0231 IN THE APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS

FIFTH DISTRICT ________________________________________________________________________ HOLLYW OOD TRUCKING, INC., ) Appeal from the ) Circuit Court of Plaintiff-Appellant, ) Saline County. ) v. ) No. 06-L-1 ) ROGER WATTERS, M.D., ) PRIMARY CARE GROUP, and ) JAMES ATKINSON, ) Honorable ) Bruce D. Stewart, Defendants-Appellees. ) Judge, presiding. ________________________________________________________________________ JUSTICE DONOVAN delivered the opinion of the court: The plaintiff, Hollywood Trucking, Inc. (Hollywood), filed a three-count complaint in the circuit court of Saline County, against the defendants, Roger Watters, M.D., Primary Care Group (Primary Care), and James Atkinson. In the complaint, Hollywood alleged that Dr. Watters negligently certified Atkinson's physical fitness to operate a commercial motor vehicle under regulations established by the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) (count I); that Dr. Watters fraudulently certified that Atkinson was physically fit to operate a commercial motor vehicle under DOT regulations (count II); that James Atkinson fraudulently misrepresented his medical history in that he failed to disclose prior back surgeries during the DOT certification examination (count III); and that if it had been aware of Atkinson's back condition, it would not have hired Atkinson and it would not have become liable to provide benefits to him under the Illinois Workers' Compensation Act (820 ILCS 305/1 et seq. (West 2002)). All the defendants filed motions to dismiss the counts against them pursuant to section

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2-619 of the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure (Code) (735 ILCS 5/2-619 (West 2004)). After considering the parties' arguments, the circuit court dismissed with prejudice count I and count III but let count II stand. The court expressly found that there was no just reason to delay the enforcement or appeal of its rulings. Hollywood filed this appeal pursuant to Illinois Supreme Court Rule 304(a) (210 Ill. 2d R. 304(a)). Hollywood is an interstate motor carrier located in Eldorado, Illinois. Its operations are regulated by the DOT. The DOT imposes a number of rules on interstate motor carriers and the persons who drive commercial motor vehicles for those carriers. See 49 C.F.R.

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