Justice Daniel Palmieri
Plaintiff alleged that he was injured during a gym class wrestling match with his partner, who picked him up and slammed him to the ground. He claims the school is liable under the theory of negligent supervision and control and that the school was put on notice pertaining to prior aggressive behavior between the boys but still allowed them to engage in a wresting match. The school contended that negligent supervision was not the proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injury, in that the school had no duty to protect the plaintiff from his own sudden, voluntary act of putting his hand out while falling, contrary to the instructions given. The District also contended there was no prior conduct or mishaps to put the school on notice that the boys would fail to follow instructions because prior to the incident, they were allegedly supervised by the physical education teacher while they completed the specific wrestling move several times over several weeks as part of their wrestling unit in gym class. The court found that defendant failed to make a prima facie showing of entitlement to judgment as a matter of law, as it failed to show that the incident was not the result of negligent supervision and control.
