The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined the school’s (Department of Education’s, DOE’s) motion for summary judgment in this negligent supervision action should not have been granted. Plaintiff, after a confrontation in the school cafeteria, was later beaten up by the same students involved in the cafeteria confrontation. At least one of the attackers had assaulted a student before and the attackers were known to be in a gang. The Second Department determined the DOE’s proof did not sufficiently demonstrate a lack of notice or the provision of adequate security:
Here, the defendants’ submissions failed to eliminate all triable issues of fact as to whether the DOE had actual or constructive notice of the fellow students’ potential for causing harm, and whether, under the circumstances, the DOE provided adequate supervision at the end of the lunch period in the area where the assault occurred… .. The defendants failed to proffer any evidence demonstrating that the DOE lacked actual or constructive notice of any prior violent behavior by any of the infant plaintiff’s assailants. Moreover, given the witnesses’ testimony regarding the disciplinary history of one of the infant plaintiff’s assailants, there were triable issues of fact as to whether the DOE had specific knowledge of that student’s dangerous propensities … . The defendants failed to proffer sufficient evidence demonstrating the general security measures at the school, including the number of school safety officers on duty, where the school safety officers were assigned in the vicinity of the cafeteria and stairwell, and the frequency of violence in the hallways and stairwells between class periods and after lunch.
Contrary to the defendants’ contentions, they also failed to eliminate triable issues of fact as to whether inadequate security was a proximate cause of the infant plaintiff’s injuries… . In determining whether an incident occurs “in so short a span of time that even the most intense supervision could not have prevented it” … , “[t]he issue is not the speed of the punch, but the circumstances leading up to and surrounding” the incident… .. According to the infant plaintiff’s section 50-h hearing testimony, the four assailants left the cafeteria prior to the end of the lunch period and were able to block access to the stairwell when the lunch period ended. There was an absence of supervisory personnel or security in the subject stairwell when it would be expected that a large number of students would be exiting the cafeteria and using that stairwell … . “Proximate cause is a question of fact for the jury where varying inferences are possible,” and “[p]roper supervision depends largely on the circumstances surrounding the event” … . Here, the circumstances leading up to and surrounding the assault upon the infant plaintiff raised triable issues of fact as to whether adequate supervision would have prevented the assault. K.J. v City of New York, 2017 NY Slip Op 08508, Second Dept 12-6-17
NEGLIGENCE (EDUCATION-SCHOOL LAW, NEGLIGENT SUPERVISION, PLAINTIFF WAS BEATEN UP BY OTHER STUDENTS, SCHOOL DID NOT DEMONSTRATE A LACK OF NOTICE OF THE ATTACKERS’ VIOLENT PROPENSITIES AND THE ADEQUACY OF SECURITY MEASURES, SCHOOL’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND DEPT))/EDUCATION-SCHOOL LAW (NEGLIGENT SUPERVISION, PLAINTIFF WAS BEATEN UP BY OTHER STUDENTS, SCHOOL DID NOT DEMONSTRATE A LACK OF NOTICE OF THE ATTACKERS’ VIOLENT PROPENSITIES AND THE ADEQUACY OF SECURITY MEASURES, SCHOOL’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND DEPT))/SUPERVISION (EDUCATION-SCHOOL LAW, NEGLIGENCE PLAINTIFF WAS BEATEN UP BY OTHER STUDENTS, SCHOOL DID NOT DEMONSTRATE A LACK OF NOTICE OF THE ATTACKERS’ VIOLENT PROPENSITIES AND THE ADEQUACY OF SECURITY MEASURES, SCHOOL’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND DEPT))