People Ex Rel. Birkett v. City of Chicago

Plaintiffs, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet (Diocese) and the People of the State of Illinois ex rel. Joseph E, Birkett (the People), separately sued defendant, the City of Chicago (City), for nuisance. Plaintiffs alleged that aircraft arriving at and departing from the City’s O’Hare International Airport generate noise that interferes with the operation of the Diocese’s schools. The trial court dismissed the nuisance counts of plaintiffs’ complaints based on the City’s immunity under the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act (Tort Immunity Act) (745 ILCS 10/1 —…