Questions of Fact Whether Infant-Plaintiff’s Injury at the Hands of Other Students Was Proximately Caused by Negligent Supervision and/or Negligent Hiring and/or Retention

The Second Department determined the defendant-school’s motion for summary judgment was properly denied.  There were questions of fact concerning whether the school had notice of a student’s prior altercations with infant plaintiff and whether a teacher took appropriate steps to intervene to prevent injury to infant plaintiff. Infant plaintiff alleged he was injured when assaulted other students:

“Schools are under a duty to adequately supervise the students in their charge and they will be held liable for foreseeable injuries proximately related to the absence of adequate supervision” … . Here, in support of their motion, the appellants failed to establish, prima facie, that they lacked sufficiently specific knowledge or notice of the dangerous conduct that allegedly caused the infant plaintiff’s injuries … . The appellants’ moving papers failed to eliminate all triable issues of fact as to whether they had knowledge of a particular student’s dangerous propensities arising from his involvement in other altercations with the infant plaintiff … . The appellants’ moving papers also failed to eliminate all triable issues of fact as to whether a teacher failed to take “energetic steps to intervene” to prevent the infant plaintiff’s injuries at the hands of a group of his classmates … . Amandola v Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Ctr., 2015 NY Slip Op 06099, 2nd Dept 7-15-15