Supreme Court Summaries

Opinions filed April 2, 2009

No. 106798     Newton Tractor Sales, Inc. v. Kubota Tractor Corp.

Appellate citation: 382 Ill. App. 3d 1176.

      JUSTICE GARMAN delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

      Chief Justice Fitzgerald and Justices Freeman, Thomas, Kilbride, Karmeier, and Burke concurred in the judgment and opinion.

      This civil litigation comes from Fayette County. Plaintiff, Newton Tractor Sales, Inc., had hoped to purchase nearby Vandalia Tractor & Equipment, Inc., and become an authorized dealer for Kubota Tractor Corporation’s farm equipment products. In 2003 Newton, Vandalia and a representative of Kubota took part in negotiations, but, ultimately, the corporate headquarters of Kubota refused to allow Newton to become one of its authorized dealers. This lawsuit by Newton against Kubota followed.

      Plaintiff had several theories, but only one of them is preserved for review. A claim was made under the doctrine of promissory estoppel. In this decision, the Illinois Supreme Court held that promissory estoppel is a recognized cause of action in Illinois, and it rejected claims by Kubota that this doctrine can only be used defensively.

      In the circuit court, summary judgment had been granted for defendant Kubota on the promissory estoppel claim, and the appellate court affirmed. In concluding that the judgments of neither the circuit court nor the appellate court can stand, the supreme court overturned both of them. However, the court below has not yet addressed whether there is any genuine issue of material fact as to the promissory estoppel claim. The supreme court ordered a remand to the circuit court for further proceedings.