You are here: / / ​DEFENDANT DAWSON FELL ON PLAINTIFF DURING A DANCE HOSTED BY DEFENDANT N...

​DEFENDANT DAWSON FELL ON PLAINTIFF DURING A DANCE HOSTED BY DEFENDANT NON-PROFIT, LENOX HILL; PLAINTIFF SUED LENOX HILL ALLEGING NEGLIGENT SUPERVISION OF THE DANCE; LENOX HILL DID NOT OWE A DUTY OF CARE TO PLAINTIFF AND DID NOT PROXIMATELY CAUSE PLAINTIFF’S INJURY (FIRST DEPT).

The First Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined plaintiff was unable to show defendant non-profit (Lenox Hill), which hosted a dance for its members, owed her a duty of care to her or proximately caused her injury. Both plaintiff and defendant, Dawson, were members of defendant Lenox Hill. Lenox Hill hosted a dance. During the dance Dawson fell on plaintiff, breaking her ankle. Plaintiff sued Lenox Hill alleging negligent supervision:

In general, a party does not have “a duty to control the conduct of third persons to prevent them from causing injury to others … . A duty can only be found where there exists a special relationship between the defendant and the plaintiff requiring the defendant to protect the plaintiff from the third party, or a special relationship “between defendant and [the] third [party] person whose actions expose[d] plaintiff to harm,” which “would require the defendant to attempt to control the third person’s conduct” … .

… [P]laintiff failed to plead that she had a special relationship to defendant requiring it to protect her … . * * *

Plaintiff also failed to establish proximate cause. To establish proximate cause, “a plaintiff must show that the defendant’s negligence was a substantial cause of the events which produced the injury” … . In the context of the intervention of a third-party between defendant’s conduct and plaintiff’s injury, “liability turns upon whether the intervening act is a normal or foreseeable consequence of the situation created by the defendant’s negligence” … .

Here, Lenox Hill established that Dawson’s fall was not foreseeable. The record supports that Lenox Hill was not on notice of any similar incidents. Bindler v Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, Inc., 2023 NY Slip Op 02966, First Dept 6-6-23

Practice Point: Generally a party does not have a duty to control the conduct of third persons. Therefore the defendant nonprofit which hosted the dance where plaintiff was injured when another dancer fell on her did not owe plaintiff a duty of care and did not proximately cause her injury.

 

You might also like
MOTHER WAS ENTITLED TO A RECOMMENDATION ON INCARCERATION FROM THE SUPPORT MAGISTRATE WITHIN FIVE DAYS OF THE FINDING HUSBAND WAS IN WILLFUL VIOLATION OF THE SUPPORT ORDER, BECAUSE NO RECOMMENDATION WAS MADE, MOTHER WAS EFFECTIVELY DENIED THE ABILITY TO OBJECT OR APPEAL (FIRST DEPT).
DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED IN THIS INTERSECTION COLLISION CASE, THE DRIVER OF THE CAR IN WHICH PLAINTIFF WAS A PASSENGER DID NOT STOP AT A STOP SIGN, ALLEGATIONS OF DEFENDANT’S COMPARATIVE NEGLIGENCE INSUFFICIENT (FIRST DEPT).
POLICE OFFICER WAS PROPERLY ALLOWED TO IDENTIFY DEFENDANTS AS THE PERSONS DEPICTED IN VIDEOTAPES (FIRST DEPT).
THERE WERE QUESTIONS OF FACT WHETHER A RAISED MANHOLE COVER, EXPOSED WHEN THE ROAD SURFACE AROUND THE MANHOLE WAS MILLED IN PREPARATION FOR REPAVING, CONSTITUTED A DANGEROUS CONDITION CREATED BY THE CITY AND WHETHER THE CONDITION WAS OPEN AND OBVIOUS (FIRST DEPT).
FAMILY COURT DID NOT MAKE THE REQUIRED “SEARCHING INQUIRY” RE: WHETHER FATHER WAS KNOWINGLY, INTELLIGENTLY AND VOLUNTARILY WAIVING HIS RIGHT TO COUNSEL (FIRST DEPT). ​
PLAINTIFF, WHO TRIPPED ON AN EXTENSION CORD AND FELL DOWN A STAIRWELL, WAS ENTITLED TO SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON HIS LABOR LAW 240(1) CAUSE OF ACTION (FIRST DEPT).
COUNSEL’S CONDUCT WAS NOT FRIVILOUS OR DESIGNED TO DELAY; COUNSEL WAS NOT GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE HEARD BEFORE SANCTIONED; THE JUDGE DID NOT INDICATE WHY THE AMOUNT OF THE SANCTION WAS APPROPRIATE, $100 SANCTION REVERSED (FIRST DEPT). ​
PIERCING THE CORPORATE VEIL (ALTER EGO) ALLEGATIONS PROPERLY SURVIVED MOTION TO DISMISS.

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2026 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

PLAINTIFF LANDLORD WAS NOT ABLE TO SHOW THE FULLY EXECUTED LEASE WAS EVER DELIVERED... THERE WERE TWO STEPS LEADING TO A LANDING AT DEFENDANT’S FRONT DOOR; PLAINTIFF...