In a key legal win for city officials, a state appellate court ruled Friday that the city cannot be held liable for its role in the fatal E2 nightclub disaster that killed 21 people and injured dozens more in 2003.
The victims and their family members alleged in dozens of lawsuits that city officials ignored building code violations at the nightclub and that police botched efforts to rescue patrons on the night of the tragedy.
But the 1st District Appellate Court in Chicago ruled that the city is immune from liability because its alleged mistakes do not rise to the level of “willful and wanton” misconduct.
At most, police failed to take certain actions, and “plaintiffs’ attempt to turn allegations concerning the city’s failure to act into a course of direct action is not persuasive,” wrote Judge Margaret O’Mara Frossard for a unanimous three-judge panel.
The plaintiffs likely will ask the Illinois Supreme Court to review the ruling, said attorney Melvin Brooks, whose firm represents many of the victims.
“I’m very disappointed,” Brooks said. “It’s a significant decision, but I don’t think it’s the final word.”
Twenty-one people were killed and at least 50 others hurt in February 2003 during a stampede from the nightclub’s second-floor dance floor to a ground-level exit.
