Hayes v. Baker

• Decision Date: 07 October 1996
• Citation: Hayes v. Baker, 648 N.Y.S.2d 158, 232 A.D.2d 371 (N.Y. App. Div. 1996)
• Parties: Patricia HAYES, etc., et al., Respondents, v. Ross BAKER, etc., Defendant, Village of Rockville Centre, Appellant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

Page 158

648 N.Y.S.2d 158

232 A.D.2d 371

Patricia HAYES, etc., et al., Respondents, v. Ross BAKER, etc., Defendant Village of Rockville Centre, Appellant.

Supreme Court, Appellate Division Second Department.

Oct. 7, 1996.

Jacobson & Schwartz, Rockville Centre (Robert M. Bridges, of counsel), for appellant.

Feder, Connick & Goldstein, P.C., Mineola (Morton H. Feder and Ted J. Tanenbaum, of counsel), for respondents.

Before JOY, J.P., and ALTMAN, FRIEDMANN and KRAUSMAN, JJ.

MEMORANDUM BY THE COURT.

In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, etc., the defendant Village of Rockville Centre appeals from an order of the Supreme Court, Nassau County (Lockman, J.), dated July 13, 1995, which denied its motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint insofar as asserted against it.

ORDERED that the order is reversed, on the law, with costs, the motion is granted, and the complaint is dismissed insofar as asserted against the defendant Village of Rockville Centre.

The infant plaintiff was allegedly sexually abused by the defendant Ross Baker while Baker was babysitting for the child. Baker was hired by the child's mother, the plaintiff Patricia Hayes, after she obtained his name, as well as other names, from a community service referral program sponsored by the Department of Parks and Recreation of the defendant Village of Rockville Centre (hereinafter the Village). The program was established to make services such as lawn mowing, snow shovelling, house cleaning and babysitting available to community residents and to facilitate part-time employment for youths in the Village. To participate in the program, a youth completed a form indicating the types of work in which he or she was interested. The Village maintained lists of the youths who registered for the program by job categories. A resident seeking a particular service could then call for a referral and would be provided with the names of several...