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McKenna Storer

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Suicide Breaks The Chain of Causation, Barring Wrongful Death Claims

mckenna · December 2, 2015 ·

Can suicide be the basis for a wrongful death case? Rarely says the Illinois Supreme Court. It almost always will be a superseding, intervening act ending causation.

Plaintiff filed a wrongful death action following her husband’s suicide. In this particular case, the plaintiffs were less than clear about the “injury” that precipitated the decedent’s death. Although the survival count was predicated on the intentional infliction of emotional distress, the wrongful death count itself does not identify any injury to decedent that caused his death or identify on what legal theory defendant’s conduct was “wrongful”. In a conclusory fashion, the complaint stated only that “as a result of the wrongful acts of defendants described above, the decedent committed suicide.”

The general rule, applicable in negligence actions, is that the injured party’s voluntary act of suicide is an independent intervening act which is unforeseeable as a matter of law and which breaks the chain of causation from the tortfeasor’s negligent conduct. The Illinois Supreme Court agreed, holding it was a rare case in which a suicide would not break the chain of causation and bar a cause of action for wrongful death, even where the plaintiff alleges the defendant inflicted severe emotional distress. As a matter of law, decedent’s suicide was not a reasonably foreseeable result of the defendant’s alleged conduct and the wrongful death count was dismissed. Turcios v. DeBruler Co., 2015 IL 117962, 32 N.E.3d 1117.

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McKenna Storer is a corporate law firm that provides a full spectrum of legal services for businesses and individuals. More than half of our lawyers have received positive peer review ratings from Martindale Hubbell, including 10 individual Preeminent AV ratings.
McKenna Storer has been serving its clients for more than 66 years. We are open and available for consultations at both our Chicago and Woodstock locations. Please follow us on or our LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook pages.

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McKenna, Storer
33 N. LaSalle, Suite 1400
Chicago, Illinois 60602
312.558.3900
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McKenna, Storer
1004 Courtaulds Dr., Suite A
Woodstock, Illinois 60098
815.334.9690
Mo,Tu,We,Th,Fr 8:30 am – 5:00 pm

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