Janukajtis v. Fallon
| Decision Date | 18 June 2001 |
| Parties | ALICE V. JANUKAJTIS et al., Respondents,<BR>v.<BR>BRUCE FALLON et al., Respondents, and BOARD OF EDUCATION OF RED HOOK CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT et al., Appellants. |
| Court | New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division |
Altman, J. P., Goldstein, McGinity and Schmidt, JJ., concur.
Ordered that the order is reversed insofar as appealed from, on the law, with one bill of costs, the motion is granted, the complaint and cross claims are dismissed insofar as asserted against the appellants, and the action against the remaining defendants is severed.
On April 30, 1997, the infant plaintiff, Alexander Janukajtis, then 14 years old, was a student at the Lincoln Avenue Middle School in Red Hook, Dutchess County. On that day, he was injured when he was hit in the eye by a stick thrown by a fellow student, the defendant Sean Fallon, during a luncheon recess. The incident occurred in the school yard and was preceded by horseplay between the two students approximately one minute before the incident occurred. At the time of the incident, the school yard, which was approximately the size of a football field, according to the school principal, had an estimated 70 to 80 students present, and was supervised by one monitor.
The defendants Board of Education of the Red Hook Central School District, Red Hook Central School District, and Janet Hull (hereinafter the school defendants), moved for summary judgment dismissing the complaint and cross claims insofar as asserted against them. The Supreme Court denied their motion, finding, inter alia, that there are issues of fact as to whether the school defendants negligently supervised the students. We disagree.
It is well established that although schools are under a duty to adequately supervise the students in their charge and will be held liable for foreseeable injuries proximately related to the absence of adequate supervision, schools are not insurers of the safety of their students, for they cannot reasonably be expected to continuously supervise and control all of the students' movements and activities (see, Mirand v City of New York, 84 NY2d 44, 49; Convey v City of Rye School Dist., 271 AD2d 154, 159). In order to find that a school has breached its duty to provide adequate supervision in the context of injuries caused by the acts of fellow students, it must be shown that the school "had sufficiently specific knowledge or notice of the dangerous conduct which caused injury; that is, that the third-party acts could reasonably have been anticipated" (Mirand v City of New York, supra, at 49). Actual or constructive notice to the school of prior similar conduct is generally required because school personnel cannot reasonably be expected to guard against all of the sudden, spontaneous acts that take place on a daily basis among students (see, Mirand v City of New York, supra). An injury caused by the impulsive,...
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