In our January 2008 Newsletter, we wrote on the status of the law covering the "contact sports" exception in personal injury law. On February 22, 2008 the Illinois Supreme Court released its decision in Karas v. Stevell, which appears to make the doctrine stronger than ever. In Karas, the Court found that a participant in a contact sport breaches the duty of care only when he intentionally injures a fellow participant or engages in conduct that is totally outside the range of normal activity in the sport. (No. 104123, 104133 cons. (February 22, 2008)).
In the case, two ice hockey players body-checked plaintiff from behind and caused him to fall and to suffer severe head and neck injuries. The Court reasoned that body checking was an inherent part of the contact sport of ice hockey. In applying the established rule to the defendants' conduct, the Court ultimately found that the defendants' conduct fell within the contact sport exception. The complaint only alleged rules violations without any allegations sufficient to take defendants' conduct outside the range of normal activity in the sport of hockey and this, by itself, is insufficient to impose liability in a contact sport. Additionally, the Court, in considering the issue for the first time, solidified that the contact sport exception applies with equal force to the game officials, coaches, and the leagues sponsoring the game.
