Loman v. Freeman

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Loman v. Freeman

State: Illinois

Docket No: 104289 Rel

Case Date: 04/17/2008

Preview:Docket No. 104289.

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS

BRIAN LOMAN et al., Appellees, v. DAVID E. FREEMAN, Appellant. Opinion filed April 17, 2008.

JUSTICE GARMAN delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. Chief Justice Thomas and Justices Fitzgerald, and Karmeier concurred in the judgment and opinion. Justice Freeman dissented, with opinion, joined by Justice Burke. Justice Kilbride dissented, without opinion. OPINION Plaintffs are the owners of a race horse, Master David Lee. Defendant David E. Freeman, D.V.M., a member of the faculty of the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Illinois, performed surgery on the horse. Plaintiffs allege that one of the surgical procedures performed by Freeman was unauthorized and that it rendered the horse lame and unsuitable for racing. Their claims of negligence and conversion were dismissed by the circuit court of Champaign County and they appealed. The appellate court reversed. 375 Ill. App. 3d 445. We granted defendant's petition for leave to appeal under Supreme Court Rule 315 (210 Ill. 2d R. 315). For the reasons that follow, we affirm the judgment of the appellate court.

BACKGROUND In 2001, plaintiffs brought their horse, Master David Lee, to the Large Animal Clinic at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine for evaluation and treatment. Defendant was employed by the College as a professor of equine surgery. As such, he was not required to be licensed as a veterinarian in Illinois. See 225 ILCS 115/4(3) (West 2000). His duties included teaching and training veterinary students in the diagnosis and treatment of horses. In the course of his teaching duties, he examined, treated, and performed surgery on horses. Plaintiffs allege that they gave defendant permission to perform two procedures on the animal: surgery on the left carpal bone and draining of fluid from the right stifle. (The stifle is the joint in a horse's hind leg analogous to the human knee.) They further allege that they specifically forbade him to perform any other procedures on the right stifle. Notwithstanding this express prohibition, defendant performed surgery on the right stifle. Plaintiffs claim that, as a result, the horse has been ruined for future racing. Plaintiffs' amended complaint contains two counts. In count I, negligence, plaintiffs allege that defendant owed a duty to them to exercise reasonable care in his treatment of the horse "in compliance with the standards of a qualified veterinarian," and that he performed unauthorized and unnecessary surgery on the animal's right stifle "in violation of the standard of care of a veterinarian." In count II, conversion, plaintiffs allege that the performance of unauthorized surgery by defendant "constitutes an unauthorized assumption of the right to possession or ownership of the horse," causing an "alteration of the condition" of the horse. In addition to the tort claims filed in the circuit court, plaintiffs filed an action against the University of Illinois Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine (a department within the College of Veterinary Medicine) in the Court of Claims. That action has been stayed pending the outcome of the circuit court action. Defendant filed a hybrid motion to dismiss pursuant to section 2

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