McDermott v. Metropolitan Sanitary District

Plaintiff Michael McDermott (McDermott) was rendered a permanent quadriplegic from injuries he sustained when he fell into a storm water drainage ditch while riding his bicycle along a dirt path in a lot in the Village of Palatine (the Village). McDermott filed suit against the Village, the Metropolitan Sanitary District (the MSD), and the Salt Creek Rural Park District (the Park District), alleging inter alia that each defendant had been willful and wanton for failure to properly maintain the ditch or warn of the hazards associated with the ditch. The matter was submitted for trial, and the…