Wakefield v. Sears, Roebuck and Co.

PRESIDING JUSTICE JIGANTI

delivered the opinion of the court:

The plaintiff, Enis Wakefield, brought a product liability action against the defendants, Sears, Roebuck and Co. (Sears) and Johnson Controls, Inc. (Johnson), seeking to recover damages for injuries he sustained when a car battery exploded. Prior to trial the defendants moved to dismiss the complaint as a discovery sanction pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 219(c) (134 Ill. 2d R. 219(c)). The motion alleged that the plaintiff failed to preserve certain evidence critical to resolving the issues of proximate causation and product misuse.…