The Illinois Appellate Court gave Cindi Mathias another shot at alleging that the permanent injury her son, T.M., suffered to his dominant hand when he crashed into an unpadded concrete wall while playing “scramble ball” during a gym class at Winnebago High School was caused by a teacher’s willful and wanton conduct. Focusing on the fuzzy line between ordinary and gross negligence, the Illinois Appellate Court affirmed a Winnebago County judge’s decision to toss Mathias’s complaint against Winnebago Community Unit School District 323 and the teacher, Brent Thompson. The defendants had immunity against a lawsuit alleging regular negligence, and the “ultimate facts” alleged by Mathias did not add up to willful and wanton conduct. But the trial judge abused her discretion by dismissing the case with prejudice. Mathias v. Winnebago Community Unit School District, 2021 IL App (2d) 200039-U (Jan. 25, 2021).