Appeals court OKs suit against school district over a student who knocked down others on field trip
A divided New York appellate court has OK’d a lawsuit filed against a school district by the parents of two girls knocked to the ground by an 11-year-old boy during a field trip to the Bronx Zoo.
At issue is whether those in charge properly supervised the children during the field trip and whether it should have been foreseeable that the 11-year-old could be a behavior problem, reports the New York Law Journal (sub. req.).
The majority in the Appellate Division, Second Department ruling said the case against Cornwall Central School District could proceed toward trial. However, a dissent by Presiding Justice Randall Eng called the 11-year-old’s conduct impulsive, and said the district could not have anticipated it.
The boy testified that he accidentally ran into the girls as he was being chased by another student. The girls said that he pushed them to the ground deliberately.
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “Jury finds 8-year-old not liable for leaping into aunt’s arms and breaking her wrist”
