Davis v. Temple ( 1996 )


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  •                               NO. 5-95-0566

      

                                     IN THE

      

                           APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS

      

                                 FIFTH DISTRICT

    _________________________________________________________________

      

    WILLIAM E. DAVIS and PAMELA DAVIS,   )  Appeal from the

                                        )  Circuit Court of

        Plaintiffs-Appellants,          )  Jackson County.

                                        )

    v.                                   )  No. 95-L-19

                                        )

    JAMES TEMPLE and THE CITY OF         )  

    CARBONDALE, ILLINOIS,                )  Honorable

                                        )  William G. Schwartz,

        Defendants-Appellees.           )  Judge, presiding.  

    _________________________________________________________________

      

        JUSTICE GOLDENHERSH delivered the opinion of the court:

        Plaintiffs, William E. Davis and Pamela Davis, appeal from the

    judgment of the circuit court of Jackson County granting a motion

    to dismiss their complaint.  The motion to dismiss was filed by

    defendants, James Temple, a police officer with the City of Carbon-

    dale, and the City of Carbondale.

        Plaintiffs brought the present action to recover damages

    allegedly caused by Officer Temple while he was acting in his

    capacity as a police officer for the city.  Plaintiffs filed a

    seven-count complaint against defendants.  Counts I through V were

    brought by William.  Count I was against Officer Temple and alleged

    malicious prosecution.  Count II was against the city under a

    theory of respondeat superior and likewise alleged malicious

    prosecution.  Count III was against Officer Temple and count IV was

    against the city; both alleged false arrest.  Count V was against

    the city and alleged negligent retention of an employee, namely,

    Officer Temple.  Counts VI and VII were brought by Pamela against

    Officer Temple and the city, respectively.  Counts VI and VII

    alleged invasion of privacy, more specifically, the tort of

    unreasonable intrusion upon the seclusion of another.  On appeal,

    we must determine as to counts I through V whether William alleged

    sufficient facts to sustain a cause of action for the alleged

    torts.  As to counts VI and VII, we must first determine whether a

    cause of action exists in Illinois for unreasonable intrusion upon

    the seclusion of another, and, if so, whether Pamela sufficiently

    alleged such a cause of action in counts VI and VII.  We affirm

    with one exception.  We expressly recognize a cause of action for

    unreasonable intrusion upon the seclusion of another.  However, we

    find the facts alleged in counts VI and VII insufficient to state

    that cause of action.

                                      FACTS

        Plaintiffs are husband and wife.  At the time of the alleged

    occurrences, Pamela was employed by Bud's Warehouse.  William was

    also an employee of Bud's Warehouse but was discharged from that

    employment on January 20, 1994.  Plaintiffs filed their original

    action on February 9, 1995.  The trial court granted defendants'

    motion to dismiss all seven counts but allowed plaintiffs leave to

    amend.  On May 18, 1995, plaintiffs filed their first amended

    complaint.

        Plaintiffs' first amended complaint alleged that on January

    20, 1994, Officer Temple, in the course of his duty as a police

    officer, was called to Bud's Warehouse to investigate a reported

    criminal damage to property.  Plaintiffs further alleged that from

    January 20, 1994, until February 9, 1994, Officer Temple engaged

    "in a course of conduct of hounding and harassing" both William and

    Pamela "in an attempt to coerce a confession" from William on the

    criminal damage charge.  In count I, William alleged a cause of

    action against Officer Temple for malicious prosecution, specifi-

    cally alleging as follows:

             "3.  That on February 18, 1994, the Defendant James

        Temple, motivated by malice[,] did cause to be filed a

        criminal action, namely, Jackson County No. 94-CM-82,

        against this Plaintiff, by preparing and submitting to

        the Jackson County State's Attorney an `Affidavit of

        Probable Cause,' which contained false information.

        Defendant failed to obtain a Uniform Complaint form

        signed by the alleged victim, and in fact, prepared and

        filed said Affidavit of Probable Cause without consulting

        with or informing the alleged victims of his intent to

        charge the Plaintiff William E. Davis with Assault.

        Defendant submitted this `Affidavit of Probable Cause'

        although he knew that said charges were unjustified and

        that probable cause for the prosecution of this plaintiff

        was lacking."  (Emphasis in original.)

    Count II made the same allegations against the city under a theory

    of respondeat superior.  

        In count III, William alleged a cause of action against

    Officer Temple for false arrest, specifically alleging as follows:

             "3.  That on January 20, 1994, the Defendant James

        Temple, in the course of his duty as a Carbondale Police

        officer, was called to Bud's Warehouse in Carbondale,

        Illinois, to investigate a reported criminal damage to

        property.

             4.  That from January 20, 1994, until February 9,

        1994, the Defendant James Temple[] did engage in a course

        of conduct of hounding and harassing the Plaintiff,

        William Davis, in an attempt to coerce a confession to

        the aforesaid criminal damage to property charge.

             5.  That on February 9, 1994, the harassment by the

        Defendant James Temple reached such an extent that the

        Plaintiff filed a complaint with both the Carbondale

        Police Department and the Jackson County State's At-

        torney's office, alleging police misconduct.

             6.  That on February 10, 1994, the Defendant, James

        Temple, in retaliation for Plaintiff's filing of the

        police misconduct complaint, did prepare and submit to

        the Jackson County State's Attorney an `Affidavit of

        Probable Cause,' which contained false information.

        Defendant failed to obtain a Uniform Complaint form

        signed by the alleged victim, and in fact, prepared and

        filed said Affidavit of Probable Cause without consulting

        with or informing the alleged victims of his intent to

        charge the Plaintiff William E. Davis with Assault.

        Defendant submitted this `Affidavit of Probable Cause'

        and did cause a warrant to issue for the arrest of the

        Plaintiff upon the charge of Assault.

             7.  That Defendant James Temple filed the `Affidavit

        of Probable Cause' without any probable cause, and did so

        out of malice, and that the arrest of the Plaintiff was

        wholly without cause.

             8.  That as a result of the actions of the Defendant

        James Temple, Plaintiff was caused to be arrested,

        fingerprinted and booked, and was detained against his

        will for a period of time.

             9.  That upon trial of said charges, the Court

        entered a directed verdict in favor of this Plaintiff[]

        and thereby acquitted this Plaintiff, [and] that judgment

        was entered in favor of Plaintiff and is now final.

             10.  That Defendant James Temple caused said

        criminal charges to be lodged against Plaintiff and

        caused Plaintiff to be arrested with the intent to bring

        this Plaintiff into disrepute and to cause, if possible,

        great shame and humiliation to Plaintiff, in which

        objective the Defendant was successful; and that in

        addition to the actual financial losses caused by such

        conduct, including the expenses incident to the defense

        of such case, the Plaintiff was subjected to great stress

        and anxiety which adversely affected his health, peace of

        mind and physical condition."  (Emphasis in original.)

    In count IV, William made the same allegations against the city,

    again under a theory of respondeat superior.  

        In count V, William alleged a cause of action against the city

    for negligent retention of Officer Temple as a police officer.

    William alleged that previous complaints were made against Officer

    Temple but the city failed to take appropriate measures to correct

    the conduct of Officer Temple.

        In counts VI and VII, Pamela alleged a cause of action for

    invasion of privacy, specifically, unreasonable intrusion on the

    seclusion of another, against both Officer Temple and the city,

    respectively.  Pamela specifically alleged:

             "5.  That from January 20, 1994, until February 9,

        1994, the Defendant James Temple[] did engage in a course

        of conduct of hounding and harassing Plaintiff Pamela

        Davis, in an attempt to coerce her husband to confess to

        the criminal damage to property charge, to-wit:

             (a)  On February 2, 1994, the Defendant James

                  Temple did call Plaintiff Pamela Davis at her

                  place of employment, and demanded that she

                  appear at the Carbondale Police Department to

                  discuss his investigation of damage to Plain-

                  tiff's [coworker's] automobile.  Upon her

                  arrival, the Defendant James Temple secluded

                  himself in a room with Plaintiff, and verbally

                  abused her, calling her a `fucking liar,' and

                  threatening to `make (her) life a living hell'

                  until her husband confessed to damaging Plain-

                  tiff's co[]worker's automobile.

             (b)  On February 8, 1994, the Defendant James

                  Temple did come to the place of employment of

                  the Plaintiff Pamela Davis, namely, Bud's

                  Warehouse, unannounced and demanding to speak

                  to the Plaintiff, in the clear view of her

                  friends and co[]workers, thus invading the

                  privacy of the Plaintiff among her friends and

                  co[]workers.

             (c)  That on February 8, 1994, in an attempt to get

                  away from the Defendant James Temple, the

                  Plaintiff Pamela Davis walked to the stockroom

                  of her employer's place of business, a place

                  not open to the public, and was talking to her

                  manager, when Defendant James Temple forceful-

                  ly entered the storeroom, informed Plaintiff

                  Pamela Davis she was `in custody' and again

                  demanded that she talk to him, all in the

                  presence of and clear view and hearing of the

                  store manager of Plaintiff's employment, thus

                  invading the privacy of the plaintiff and

                  causing a loss of confidence and reputation of

                  the Plaintiff among her friends and co[]work-

                  ers."  (Emphasis in original.)

    Plaintiffs allege that as a result of the action of defendants,

    they suffered great shame and humiliation, financial loss, and

    great stress and anxiety, which adversely affected their health,

    peace of mind, and physical condition.

        On June 14, 1995, defendants filed a motion for involuntary

    dismissal of plaintiffs' first amended complaint, pursuant to

    section 2-619.1 of the Code of Civil Procedure (the Code).  735

    ILCS 5/2-619.1 (West 1994).  The trial court dismissed plaintiffs'

    first amended complaint with prejudice.  Plaintiffs filed a timely

    notice of appeal.  Plaintiffs did not file a motion for leave to

    file a second amended complaint, nor have they sought that relief

    from this court.  Plaintiffs stand on their first amended com-

    plaint.

                                     ISSUES

        The first issue we are asked to address is whether plaintiffs'

    first amended complaint alleged sufficient facts to sustain the

    various causes of action stated in counts I through V.  We

    initially note that the standard of review on appeal from a motion

    to dismiss under section 2-615 of the Code is whether the complaint

    sufficiently states a cause of action.  735 ILCS 5/2-615 (West

    1994); McCormick v. Kruk, 220 Ill. App. 3d 449, 451, 581 N.E.2d 73,

    75 (1991).  Generally, a motion brought under section 2-619 of the

    Code is properly allowed only if it raises an affirmative matter

    which negates the plaintiff's cause of action completely or when it

    refutes crucial conclusions of law or conclusions of material fact

    that are unsupported by allegations of specific facts.  735 ILCS

    5/2-619 (West 1994); Health Employees Labor Program of Metropolitan

    Chicago v. County of Cook, 236 Ill. App. 3d 93, 97, 603 N.E.2d 591,

    593 (1992).  On review of an order dismissing a complaint for

    failure to state a cause of action, all well-pleaded facts and

    inferences are accepted as true (Fellhauer v. City of Geneva, 142

    Ill. 2d 495, 499, 568 N.E.2d 870, 872 (1991)), but not conclusions

    of law or conclusions of fact unsupported by specific facts.

    Groenings v. City of St. Charles, 215 Ill. App. 3d 295, 299, 574

    N.E.2d 1316, 1319 (1991).  Disputed questions of law are reviewed

    de novo.  In re Marriage of Skinner, 149 Ill. App. 3d 788, 791, 501

    N.E.2d 311, 313 (1986).  A motion to dismiss a complaint for

    failure to state a cause of action should not be granted unless it

    clearly appears that no set of facts could be proven under the

    pleadings which would entitle the plaintiff to relief.  Krautstrunk

    v. Chicago Housing Authority, 95 Ill. App. 3d 529, 420 N.E.2d 429

    (1981).

                                 COUNTS I AND II

        The necessary elements for malicious prosecution are:

        "(1) the commencement or continuance of an original

        criminal or civil judicial proceeding, (2) its legal

        causation by the present defendant against plaintiff who

        was the defendant in the original proceeding, (3) its

        bona fide termination in favor of the present plaintiff,

        (4) the absence of probable cause for such proceedings,

        (5) the presence of malice, and (6) damages resulting to

        plaintiff."  Freides v. Sani-Mode Manufacturing Co., 33

        Ill. 2d 291, 295, 211 N.E.2d 286, 288 (1965).

    William maintains that he alleged that Officer Temple caused

    criminal charges to be filed against him and that is sufficient to

    reasonably inform Officer Temple of the nature of the claim against

    him.  Further, William maintains that because he alleged that the

    affidavit contained "false" information, the pleadings meet the

    required elements of malicious prosecution.  Defendants respond

    that plaintiff failed to allege that Officer Temple pressured the

    State's Attorney into prosecuting William and that there are

    insufficient allegations that Officer Temple knowingly supplied

    "false" information to the State's Attorney on which the State's

    Attorney relied in deciding to prosecute William.  We agree with

    defendants.

        In the present case, there is no allegation in count I that

    Officer Temple in any way pressured or coerced the State's Attorney

    to file charges against defendant.  The first amended complaint

    merely contends that Officer Temple "motivated by malice" caused

    charges to be filed against plaintiff by preparing and submitting

    to the State's Attorney an affidavit of probable cause which

    contained false information.  William did not specify which

    information in the affidavit was false, but he only alleged that

    defendant did not obtain a uniform complaint form signed by the

    alleged victim and that defendant prepared and filed the said

    affidavit without consulting or informing the alleged victim.

    However, in conjunction with this case, the State's Attorney filed

    an affidavit in which he stated that there is no statutory

    requirement for filing a uniform complaint when an officer files an

    affidavit of probable cause and that there is no duty or statutory

    requirement for a police officer to contact the victim before

    filing the affidavit of probable cause.  The State's Attorney

    explained that it is his decision whether to file an information.

    A close examination of the first amended complaint reveals that

    plaintiff makes conclusory allegations that the information

    supplied by Officer Temple was "false," without specifying what was

    false.  Moreover, we agree with defendants that plaintiff's

    allegations of malice and lack of probable cause found in the

    complaint are also mere conclusions and, therefore, are insuffi-

    cient to state a cause of action for malicious prosecution.  We

    find that plaintiff did not allege sufficient facts to sustain a

    cause of action for malicious prosecution as pleaded in counts I

    and II.

                                COUNTS III AND IV

        To sustain an action for false arrest, the plaintiff has the

    burden of proving a restraint or an arrest caused or procured by

    the defendants without their having reasonable grounds to believe

    that an offense was committed by the plaintiff.  Karow v. Student

    Inns, Inc., 43 Ill. App. 3d 878, 881, 357 N.E.2d 682, 686 (1976).

    William submits that he alleged facts sufficient to constitute

    false arrest.  He claims that the trial court incorrectly dismissed

    counts III and IV because it overlooked that the alleged facts in

    counts III and IV included the statement that the warrant of arrest

    was based upon Officer Temple's affidavit of probable cause which

    contained false information.  Defendants respond that there are no

    facts alleged which, if proven, would show that Officer Temple

    acted without probable cause or that he knew that there was no

    probable cause but proceeded anyway.  Defendants maintain that

    there were insufficient factual allegations pleaded in counts III

    and IV to establish a lack of probable cause and malice on the part

    of Officer Temple in arresting William.  We agree with defendants.

        The trial court correctly found that a "cause of action for

    false arrest cannot be based upon a valid Warrant of Arrest issued

    by a Court," as the law is well settled that if an arrest is made

    under a judicially issued arrest warrant, the arrest itself cannot

    give rise to a claim of false imprisonment.  Wiemann v. County of

    Kane, 150 Ill. App. 3d 962, 968, 502 N.E.2d 373, 376 (1986);

    Jacobson v. Rolley, 29 Ill. App. 3d 265, 267, 330 N.E.2d 256, 258

    (1975).  The fact that William alleged that the affidavit of

    probable cause contained "false" information does not mean that

    this trial court's determination was incorrect.  William's

    pleadings on this matter are conclusory and do not give us any

    indication what, if anything, was false.  It is not enough to plead

    false arrest; it is necessary to plead sufficient factual allega-

    tions of an unlawful arrest.  See Wilson v. Hunk, 51 Ill. App. 3d

    1030, 1032-33, 367 N.E.2d 478, 480-81 (1977).  Moreover, the other

    allegations made by William, namely, that Officer Temple failed to

    obtain a uniform complaint signed by the alleged victim and that

    Officer Temple filed an affidavit of probable cause without

    consulting the alleged victim, do not support William's claim of

    false imprisonment since, as previously discussed, it was not

    necessary for Officer Temple to have taken either action.  Accord-

    ingly, we find the complaint insufficient to state a cause of

    action for malicious prosecution.  

                                COUNTS VI AND VII

        In count VI, Pamela presented a cause of action against

    Officer Temple for invasion of privacy, specifically, unreasonable

    intrusion into the seclusion of another.  In count VII, Pamela

    presented the same cause of action against the city under a theory

    of respondeat superior.  Pamela asks us to expressly recognize this

    tort and argues that the allegations found in counts VI and VII are

    sufficient to plead the elements of this cause of action.

    Defendants respond that neither the supreme court nor the Fifth

    District Appellate Court has expressly recognized this cause of

    action and, thus, counts VI and VII of plaintiffs' first amended

    complaint were properly dismissed for failure to state a cause of

    action.  Assuming, arguendo, that we recognize a cause of action

    based upon the unreasonable intrusion on the seclusion of another,

    defendants argue that the facts alleged in counts VI and VII were

    insufficient to state a cause of action.

        Professor William Prosser delineated four distinct types of

    invasion of privacy, and his approach has been explicitly adopted

    by the Restatement (Second) of Torts.  The four types are: (1)

    intrusion upon the seclusion of another (Restatement (Second) of

    Torts §652B, at 378 (1977)); (2) appropriation of another's name or

    likeness (Restatement (Second) of Torts §652C, at 380 (1977)); (3)

    publicity given to private life (Restatement (Second) of Torts

    §652D, at 383 (1977)); and (4) publicity placing a person in a

    false light (Restatement (Second) of Torts §652E, at 394 (1977)).

    The Restatement (Second) of Torts describes the tort of intrusion

    upon the seclusion of another in the following manner: "One who

    intentionally intrudes physically or otherwise, upon the solitude

    or seclusion of another or his private affairs or concerns, is

    subject to liability to the other for invasion of his privacy, if

    the intrusion would be highly offensive to a reasonable person."

    Restatement (Second) of Torts §652B, at 378 (1977).

        In Lovgren v. Citizens First National Bank, 126 Ill. 2d 411,

    534 N.E.2d 987 (1989), our supreme court considered whether the

    facts in that case constituted an unreasonable intrusion upon the

    seclusion of another and found that the facts of that case did not

    satisfy the elements of that tort as defined by Prosser.  In

    Lovgren, the debtor-plaintiff brought an action against the bank

    for invasion of privacy.  One theory was intrusion upon seclusion

    based upon the bank's attempt to collect a debt by running an

    advertisement that the debtor was selling his farm at a public

    auction.  No such sale had been scheduled, however, and the plain-

    tiff had not consented to such a sale.  The ad did not mention the

    bank's mortgage on the property or the fact that the sale was being

    held to satisfy the plaintiff's financial obligations.  The ad was

    placed without the bank instituting mortgage foreclosure proceed-

    ings.  Lovgren, 126 Ill. 2d at 415, 534 N.E.2d at 988.  The Lovgren

    court determined that the alleged offensive conduct and subsequent

    harm pleaded by the plaintiff resulted from the bank's act of

    publication, not from an act of prying.  The Lovgren court

    specifically cited to the Restatement (Second) of Torts §652B,

    previously set forth in this opinion, and added the following

    discussion about the comments to this Restatement section:

             "The comments to this section of the Restatement

        indicate that the nature of this tort depends upon some

        type of highly offensive prying into the physical

        boundaries or affairs of another person.  The basis of

        the tort is not publication or publicity.  Rather, the

        core of this tort is the offensive prying into the

        private domain of another.  (Restatement (Second) of

        Torts §652B, comments a, b, at 378-79 (1977).)  Prosser

        and Keeton's treatise on torts echoes the Restatement

        approach.  (See W. Prosser & W. Keeton, Torts §117, at

        854-56 (5th ed. 1984).)  The examples provided as forming

        the basis for the tort of intrusion into the seclusion of

        another include the following acts: invading someone's

        home; an illegal search of someone's shopping bag in a

        store; eavesdropping by wiretapping; peering into the

        windows of a private home; and persistent and unwanted

        telephone calls.  (W. Prosser & W. Keeton, Torts §117, at

        854-55 (5th ed. 1984).)  Although we recognize that the

        contours of the tort of unreasonable intrusion into the

        seclusion of another are intuitive to a degree, we

        conclude that the defendants' alleged actions in the

        present case do not constitute unreasonable intrusion

        into the seclusion of another."  Lovgren, 126 Ill. 2d at

        416-17, 534 N.E.2d at 989.

    Our supreme court went on to note that its discussion of the tort

    of unreasonable intrusion on seclusion should not be interpreted to

    imply its recognition of such a cause of action, and the court

    noted that a conflict existed between the districts of the appel-

    late court.  Lovgren, 126 Ill. 2d at 417-18, 534 N.E.2d at 989.

    Our supreme court declined to resolve the conflict in Lovgren, and

    a split remains between the districts.

        In Bank of Indiana v. Teremunde, 50 Ill. App. 3d 480, 365

    N.E.2d 295 (1977), this district stated that although it found no

    reported cases from Illinois recognizing a cause of action for

    unreasonable intrusion upon seclusion, it assumed, based on

    Leopold v. Levin, 45 Ill. 2d 434, 259 N.E.2d 250 (1970), that the

    supreme court would recognize that such an action was appropriate.

    In Leopold, our supreme court stated:

        "Privacy is one of the sensitive and necessary human

        values and undeniably there are circumstances under which

        it should enjoy the protection of the law."  Leopold, 45

        Ill. 2d at 440-41, 259 N.E.2d at 254.

    The Leopold court referred to the right of privacy as one recog-

    nized many years ago and "described in a limited fashion by Judge

    Cooley with utter simplicity as the right `to be let alone.'"

    Leopold, 45 Ill. 2d at 440, 259 N.E.2d at 254.  The Bank of Indiana

    court, relying on Leopold, however, held only that a cause of

    action in that case was not proved, and the court did not go so far

    as to expressly hold that a cause of action for intrusion upon

    seclusion exists.

        The Third District Appellate Court recognized the intrusion on

    seclusion tort in Melvin v. Burling, 141 Ill. App. 3d 786, 490

    N.E.2d 1011 (1986).  The Melvin court set forth four elements which

    must be alleged in order to state the cause of action: (1) an

    unauthorized intrusion or prying into the plaintiff's seclusion,

    (2) an intrusion which is offensive or objectionable to a reason-

    able man, (3) the matter upon which the intrusion occurs is

    private, and (4) the intrusion causes anguish and suffering.

    Melvin, 141 Ill. App. 3d at 789, 490 N.E.2d at 1013-14.  In Kelly

    v. Franco, 72 Ill. App. 3d 642, 391 N.E.2d 54 (1979), the First

    District Appellate Court declined to entertain a cause of action

    for intrusion into the seclusion of another.  However, since the

    Melvin decision, the First District has applied the four elements

    set forth in Melvin but has never specifically held that the cause

    of action exists in this State.  In Mucklow v. John Marshall Law

    School, 176 Ill. App. 3d 886, 531 N.E.2d 941 (1988), and Miller v.

    Motorola, Inc., 202 Ill. App. 3d 976, 560 N.E.2d 900 (1990), as

    well as Dwyer v. American Express Co., 273 Ill. App. 3d 742, 652

    N.E.2d 1351 (1995), the First District held that the plaintiff's

    allegations did not satisfy the first element of Melvin, but the

    court did not go so far as to say that the cause of action for

    intrusion on seclusion actually exists in Illinois.  The Fourth

    District Appellate Court, in Bureau of Credit Control v. Scott, 36

    Ill. App. 3d 1006, 345 N.E.2d 37 (1976), refused to recognize

    intrusion on seclusion, finding that because the plaintiff already

    stated a cause of action for intentional infliction of severe

    emotional distress, there was no need to grant her a remedy of

    invasion of privacy based upon intrusion upon seclusion.

        A review of this area of law leads us to adopt the four-

    pronged test set forth in Melvin for determining whether a cause of

    action has been properly alleged for intrusion upon seclusion.

    Nothing written by our supreme court on this area of the law leads

    us to believe that such a cause of action should not be recognized

    in Illinois.  Therefore, after careful consideration, we expressly

    recognize a cause of action for unreasonable intrusion into the

    seclusion of another.  After review of plaintiffs' first amended

    complaint, however, we conclude that Officer Temple's actions in

    the instant case do not constitute unreasonable intrusion into the

    seclusion of another.  Our decision is based upon the fact that the

    alleged offensive conduct occurred during the course of a criminal

    investigation concerning William.  A criminal investigation is a

    public matter, not a private matter, and, thus, does not meet the

    third required element, namely, that the matter upon which the

    intrusion occurs is private.  

        Pamela's complaint alleges that due to Officer Temple's

    investigation, she suffered injury to her right to privacy.

    However, from what we can garner from the record before us, Officer

    Temple was investigating a reported crime, namely, criminal damage

    to property, which allegedly occurred at both plaintiffs' place of

    employment, Bud's Warehouse.  Pamela alleges that on February 2,

    1994, Officer Temple called her and demanded that she appear at the

    police station in conjunction with this investigation.  Likewise,

    on February 8, 1994, Officer Temple appeared at Bud's Warehouse in

    the course of the public investigation.  Officer Temple's investi-

    gative techniques are indeed questionable if what plaintiffs have

    alleged in their complaint is true.  They do not, however,

    constitute an unreasonable intrusion into the seclusion of another,

    due to the public nature of the investigation of a crime allegedly

    committed at both plaintiffs' place of employment.

                                     COUNT V

        Finally, with regard to count V, negligent retention of an

    employee, we agree with the trial court that this count cannot

    stand since it is based on the pending cause of action against

    Officer Temple.

        For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the circuit court

    of Jackson County is affirmed, except that we expressly recognize

    a cause of action for unreasonable intrusion upon the seclusion of

    another.  However, as previously discussed, the facts of the

    instant case do not give rise to such a cause of action.

      

        Affirmed.

      

        RARICK and KUEHN, JJ., concur.  

                                         NO. 5-95-0566

                                        IN THE

                             APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS

                                    FIFTH DISTRICT

    ___________________________________________________________________________

      

    WILLIAM E. DAVIS and PAMELA DAVIS,   )  Appeal from the

                                        )  Circuit Court of

        Plaintiffs-Appellants,          )  Jackson County.

                                        )

    v.                                   )  No. 95-L-19

                                        )

    JAMES TEMPLE and THE CITY OF         )  

    CARBONDALE, ILLINOIS,                )  Honorable

                                        )  William G. Schwartz,

        Defendants-Appellees.           )  Judge, presiding.  

    ___________________________________________________________________________

      

    Opinion Filed:                 November 26, 1996

    ___________________________________________________________________________

      

    Justices:      Honorable Richard P. Goldenhersh, J.

                            

                  Honorable Philip J. Rarick, J.

                  Honorable Clyde L. Kuehn, J.

                  Concur

    ___________________________________________________________________________

                            

    Attorneys      Atkins Law Office, Mark A. Atkins, 104 West Main Street,

    for            Benton, IL  62812

    Appellant      

    ___________________________________________________________________________

      

    Attorneys      Gary B. Nelson, Feirich/Mager/Green/Ryan, 2001 West Main

    for            Street, P. O. Box 1570, Carbondale, IL  62903

    Appellee            

    ___________________________________________________________________________