Opinion
115435/10
03-10-2016
Davide E. Gomes, Plaintiff, v. Boy Scouts of America, et al., Defendants.
For plaintiff: Scott W. Epstein, Esq. Antich, Erlich & Epstein, LLP 49 W. 37th St., 7th Fl. New York, NY 10018 212-221-5999 For Council and Troop 141: Brian P. Morrissey, Esq. Connell Foley, LLP 888 Seventh Ave., 9th Fl. New York, NY 10106 212-307-3700
For plaintiff: Scott W. Epstein, Esq. Antich, Erlich & Epstein, LLP 49 W. 37th St., 7th Fl. New York, NY 10018 212-221-5999 For Council and Troop 141: Brian P. Morrissey, Esq. Connell Foley, LLP 888 Seventh Ave., 9th Fl. New York, NY 10106 212-307-3700 Barbara Jaffe, J.
By notice of motion, defendants Northern New Jersey Council, Inc., Boy Scouts of America (Council) and Boy Scout Troop 141 (troop) (collectively, defendants) move pursuant to CPLR 3212 for an order granting them summary dismissal of the complaint against them. Plaintiff opposes.
I. PERTINENT BACKGROUND
By decision and order dated October 8, 2013 (NYSCEF 110), I granted defendant Boy Scouts of America's (BSA) motion for an order summarily dismissing the complaint against it. As set forth therein, the background of the case is as follows:
On July 24, 2005, plaintiff, then a 13-year-old Boy Scout, was participating in a BoyScout excursion at Floodwood Mountain Scout Reservation in the Adirondacks. Plaintiff was a member of Boy Scout Troop 141. He and other scouts were accompanied by volunteer adult leaders. Near or in the shower house at the Reservation, plaintiff sustained head injuries.
In accident and witness reports created after the accident, the other scouts who were at the showers at the time of plaintiff's accident stated that they saw plaintiff run from the shower area and discovered him lying prone on the ground and bleeding. None of them saw him fall.(NYSCEF 110).
In his amended complaint, plaintiff alleges that as he was walking along the common area and/or grassy area at or near the showers, he fell due to defendants' failure to keep the area safe, in good repair, well-lit and free from obstruction or defect and supervise him and the other scouts.
In plaintiff's supplemental verified bill of particulars, he describes the dangerous condition which caused his fall as follows: "that the area in front of the showers where the [ ] accident occurred was not lit, and/or was poorly lit, and/or was inadequately lit; was raised and un-leveled, and had rocks and/or tree limbs/branches strewn about it," all of which defendants had constructive notice.
At an examination before trial held on December 16, 2011, plaintiff testified that he did not recall his accident or what had caused his fall, and that his last memory before falling was of walking to the showers. At the time of his accident, it was dark outside and there was no lighting outside the showers, although it was lit inside, and he noticed that there were many rocks on the ground around the shower house. He was wearing a working head lamp as he approached the showers.
On this motion, the following relevant facts are undisputed:
(1)Council owns and operates Floodwood and Troop made reservations to attend camp there;
(2)plaintiff had been a scout for several years and had attended previous camping trips;
(3)defendants Lopes and Figueiredo were the two adult Troop leaders in charge of plaintiff's troop at Floodwood;
(4)the night of plaintiff's accident, he and the other Troop members were told to put equipment into the Troop's van and take showers at the camp's shower house;
(5)of the five other Troop members that accompanied plaintiff to the shower house that night, one was 14 years old, one was 15 years old, and three were 16 years old;
(6)the adult leaders did not accompany them to the van or the shower house;
(7)the shower house was used by both female and males at alternating hours, and the Troop members had to wait until 10 pm to use it; and
(8)there had been no prior incidents of misbehavior during the trip or among the Troop members. (NYSCEF 151).
The New York State Department of Health (DOH) promulgates specific rules for children's camps. (10 NYCRR § 7.2 et al.). As pertinent here, the regulations require adequate supervision, and that "as a minimum . . . there shall exist visual or verbal communications capabilities between camper and counselor during activities and a method of accounting for the camper's whereabouts at all times." (10 NYCRR § 7.2.5[o]).
Council's written plan for Floodwood requires that supervision of campers "be maintained for the duration (24/7) of their stay at the camp." (NYSCEF 174). Council's Leaders Guide for Floodwood provides that "running and horseplay have no place at Scout Camps," and all scout units must have two adult leaders with the unit at all times. (NYSCEF 175).
At a deposition held on December 16, 2011, plaintiff testified that he had been a scout since age nine, and that while a scout he participated in monthly weekend scout camping trips. During the trips, the Troop leaders would show the scouts how to use tools, and gather firewood; when gathering firewood, the scouts would go into the woods using the buddy system, which requires that scouts be accompanied by at least one other scout. When the scouts went to the bathroom, they also used the buddy system. At a camp attended by the Troop the week before the one at Floodwood, plaintiff visited the shower facilities using the buddy system or with several scouts. At Floodwood too, the buddy system was used. (NYSCEF 162).
According to plaintiff, the main purpose of the trip to Floodwood was to take a 15-mile canoe trip. On the day of the accident, the scouts and the Troop leaders spent time outside in their campsite within the camp, where "there was a little bit of horsing around," "a little bit of pushing, playing around," and all of the scouts were pushing and shoving each other during and after a game of touch football, which the leaders told them to stop. As he walked to the shower house the night of his accident, plaintiff wore a functioning headlamp; the area around the shower house was dark. He does not recall what happened from the time the group walked to the shower house to when he regained consciousness on the ground, bleeding from his head. (NYSCEF 162).
It is undisputed that other scouts reported that while they were in the shower house, plaintiff took a water pump from the wall and squirted water on them. When one of the scouts told him to stop, plaintiff ran out of the shower house and fell to the ground. None of the scouts knew what had caused the fall. (NYSCEF 167-171, 176).
Pictures taken by the parties at Floodwood after the accident depict the shower house as a building stationed in a large clearing or space in front of a wooded area. (NYSCEF 161; 192).
According to the Troop leaders present that day, it was not scouts' practice to have adult leaders accompany scouts to camp showers. Both leaders testified that they had known plaintiff and the other scouts for several years, had been with them at another camp the week before they went to Floodwood, and had had no disciplinary issues or previous incidents of misbehavior between them. The leaders testified that Scout protocol differentiated between active activities, such as swimming or rock climbing, and passive activities, such as going to shower or the bathroom or retrieving firewood, and that active activities required adults to be present while passive activities did not necessarily require an adult presence. (NYSCEF 163, 164).
Lopes testified that they defined supervision as permitting the scouts to travel throughout the camp as long as the leaders knew their whereabouts, and that he believed that Scout guidelines prohibited the leaders from walking the scouts to the shower house and waiting outside while they showered in order to avoid any appearance of impropriety. He testified that it was a three to five-minute walk from the Troop's campsite to the shower house. (NYSCEF 164).
Figueiredo testified that the Troop's campsite was located approximately a three-minute walk from the parking lot, that the shower house was located in the general camp, and that it was a three to four-minute walk from the Troop's campsite to the shower house. He found out about plaintiff's accident when two of the scouts found him at their campsite, and when he arrived at the shower house, he found plaintiff sitting on the ground in front of the shower house. He investigated the incident by interviewing the other scouts, and concluded that the other scouts were inside the shower house when plaintiff fell outside the shower house. (NYSCEF 163).
Figueiredo testified that although they did not accompany the scouts to the bathroom or shower, they had them use the buddy system and knew their whereabouts and when to expect them to return, which he defined as their supervision of the scouts:
[t]hey were not in a vast wilderness, they were in a camp. So there are other people in camp, so they're within earshot of a number of people that are in camp. It is not like . . . I sent them out into the African plains; there were other people around. They were reasonably within earshot to a bunch of people and I knew their whereabouts.(NYSCEF 163).
At an examination before trial held on March 16, 2012, Grey Rolland, Council's director of support services, testified, as pertinent here, that he was unaware of any other injuries to scouts at Floodwood before or after plaintiff's accident, and that plaintiff and the other scouts used the buddy system, which Rolland considers adequate. He did not believe that the adult Troop leaders should have accompanied the scouts to the shower house given the BSA prohibition against permitting adults and youths in shower houses together, and he asserted that it would not be considered "appropriate" for the adults to escort the scouts to the shower house. He acknowledged that if a Troop leader observed scouts running around or engaging in horseplay, it was incumbent upon the leader to tell them to stop. (NYSCEF 165).
Richard Saunders testified at an EBT that at the time of plaintiff's accident, he was 18 years old and employed at Floodwood as a camp health officer. He described Floodwood as a "high-adventure base" for scouts older than 13 to do back-country exploring. After the accident, he completed a form as required by the DOH, on which he noted, under the category "Supervision During Incident," that the "activity was inadequately addressed in the written plan," by which he intended to convey that he had reviewed the scout's written plan for the trip and saw nothing therein related to supervision of the scouts while in the shower house. He also wrote that no camp staff was present when the accident occurred. Although Saunders had first written that the supervision was "adequate," he changed it to "inadequate" based on the absence of an adult when plaintiff was injured. Saunders had never before filled out such a form, nor was it part of his job.
Saunders described Floodwood as consisting of a main camp area, which includes the buildings where food is organized and meetings occur, and the individual campsites which are approximately a five-minute walk away. The shower house was located between the campsites and the camp buildings. He estimated that the shower house was a two-minute walk from the Troop's campsite and in "an area where boys don't want to have adults and it would be illegal to have them being watched while showering." As a scout and troop member attending camps like Floodwood, Saunders recalled that adult leaders did not escort scouts to the showers or stand outside while the scouts showered. (NYSCEF 166).
DOH investigated the incident, after which it and Council entered into a stipulation providing that DOH had alleged that Council had violated various camp regulations, including those relating to the supervision of scouts, and that the parties were thereby settling the matter by Council agreeing not to contest it, paying a fine, and submitting a revised camp safety plan. Additionally, by its terms, the stipulation is
not intended for use in any other forum, tribunal or court, including any civil or criminal proceeding in which the issues or burden of proof may differ, and is made without prejudice to [Council's] rights, defenses and/or claims in any other matter, proceeding, action, hearing or litigation not involving [DOH] [and] is not intended to be dispositive of any allegations of negligence that may be made in a civil action for monetary damages.(NYSCEF 177).
By affidavit dated August 3, 2015, Michael J. Peterson states that he is an expert on camp and conference center management, and opines, based on his experience and review of relevant documentation in this case, that defendants violated the DOH regulation which requires, at a minimum, visual or verbal communications capabilities between a camper and a counselor, and that plaintiff's accident was reasonably foreseeable as the scouts were allowed to remain "totally unsupervised and unregulated for a lengthy period of time in a potentially dangerous/hazardous environment." He also posits that if the Troop leaders had accompanied the scouts to the shower house, "the level of horse play outside the shower house would have been minimal to non-existent, the boys would have taken their showers without incident, and safely returned to their camp site." He also states that the defendants should have provided adequate lighting around the shower house. (NYSCEF 193). II. CONTENTIONS
Defendants deny that they were negligent in any manner related to the physical conditions outside the shower house as they were the ordinary and expected conditions present in a wooded camp. Troop denies having had any obligation to maintain the area. Defendants also deny having breached a duty to supervise plaintiff absent any prior incidents between plaintiff and any other Troop member that would have put them on notice of the need to supervise them more closely, and argue that plaintiff's injury or misbehavior was not reasonably foreseeable. They observe that plaintiff cannot remember how he was injured or whether his injuries were caused by a premises condition or an assault by another scout, and deny having had notice of any prior incidents or accidents around the shower house. (NYSCEF 151).
Plaintiff argues that his inability to remember the accident permits a relaxed standard of proof on summary judgment, and contends that there are two possible explanations for his accident: (1) that he was struck over the head with a blunt object by a fellow scout, or (2) that he tripped and fell while running over the uneven and non-illuminated area around the shower house, and that in either scenario, the accident would not have happened if defendants had adequately supervised that night. He asserts that a jury could conclude that a reasonably prudent parent would not permit six minors "to wander around the woods at 10:00 pm, for an indefinite period of time, without any adult supervision whatsoever," and maintains that any "horseplay" should have and would have been discouraged by the Troop leaders. He also observes that defendants violated their own policies by failing to have a troop leader with the troop "at all times" or "for the duration (24/7)" of their trip. (NYSCEF 190).
Plaintiff relies on the stipulation entered into between defendants and DOH, Saunders's conclusion that factors contributing to the incident included inadequate supervision, and Peterson's opinion, to demonstrate the lack of adequate supervision. He also argues that Council had a duty to illuminate the area around the shower house, which he characterizes as a "rugged" and "uneven and unpaved camp area containing, inter alia, grass, dirt, rocks, trees, and tree roots." (Id.).
In reply, defendants maintain that they established, prima facie, their lack of prior knowledge or notice of any scout misbehavior at the camp or any dangerous condition around the shower house. They deny that plaintiff offers evidence that he suffers from any medical condition causing a failure of memory, and assert that his inability to remember the incident does not warrant relieving him of his burden of proof. They also dispute that the scouts were "traipsing or wandering" through the woods, observing that both Troop leaders testified that they were within the camp, not the woods, where they were within earshot, and were directed to go to the shower house, which they did. (NYSCEF 200).
Defendants also contend that Peterson's expert affidavit is based on speculation, and that his reliance on the DOH requirement of visual or verbal communication capabilities during "activities" is inapplicable as showering or walking to the shower house is not an activity within the meaning of the rule. They observe that Peterson cites no regulations that defendants allegedly violated relating to the lighting around the shower house, that Peterson never inspected the area, and that in any event, the conditions alleged are ordinary elements of a wooded area. They also deny that Saunders's statements in the DOH form constitute party admissions, as his completion of the form was not within the scope of his authority at Floodwood. (Id.). III. ANALYSIS
"The proponent of a summary judgment motion must make a prima facie showing of entitlement to judgment as a matter of law, tendering sufficient evidence to demonstrate the absence of any material issues of fact." (Ayotte v Gervasio, 81 NY2d 1062, 1062 [1993] [citation omitted]; Winegrad v New York Univ. Med. Ctr., 64 NY2d 851 [1985]). "Failure to make such showing requires denial of the motion, regardless of the sufficiency of the opposing papers." ( Winegrad, 64 NY2d at 853; see also Lesocovich v 180 Madison Ave. Corp., 81 NY2d 982, 985 [1993]).
Once the proponent's prima facie burden is satisfied, the opposing party bears the burden of presenting evidentiary facts sufficient to raise triable issues of fact. (Zuckerman v City of New York, 49 NY2d 557, 562 [1980]; CitiFinancial Co. [DE] v McKinney, 27 AD3d 224, 226 [1st Dept 2006]). Summary judgment may be granted only when it is clear that no triable issues of fact exist (Alvarez v Prospect Hosp., 68 NY2d 320, 324 [1986]), and "should not be granted where there is any doubt as to the existence of a triable issue" of fact (Am. Home Assur. Co. v Amerford Intl. Corp., 200 AD2d 472, 473 [1st Dept 1994]; see also Color by Pergament, Inc. v Pergament, 241 AD2d 418, 420 [1st Dept 1997] ["Summary judgment is an exercise in issue-finding, not issue determination, and may not be granted when material and triable issues of fact are presented"]). The court must examine the evidence in a light most favorable to the party opposing the motion. (Martin v Briggs, 235 AD2d 192, 196 [1st Dept 1997]).
A plaintiff who, due to a failure of memory, cannot describe what led to his injury is not held to as high a degree of proof on his or her cause of action. (Noseworthy v City of New York, 298 NY 76 [1948]; see Bah v Benton, 92 AD3d 133 [1st Dept 2012] [plaintiff who presented medical evidence establishing loss of memory due to accident at issue entitled to lesser standard of proof applicable to party unable to present party's version of facts]). However, even when a plaintiff suffers from amnesia, he is not relieved of the obligation to provide "some proof from which negligence can be reasonably inferred." (Alotta v Diaz, 130 AD3d 660 [2d Dept 2015]; see Schechter v Klanfer, 28 NY2d 228 [1971] [even if amnesiac plaintiff is held to lesser degree of proof, it does not "shift the burden of proof or eliminate the need for plaintiffs to introduce evidence of a prima facie case"]; Santiago v Quattrociocchi, 91 AD3d 747 [2d Dept 2012] [same]). A. Did defendants breach their duty to supervise plaintiff?
A person, other than a parent, who undertakes to control, care for, or supervise an infant, is required to use reasonable care to protect the infant . . . Such a person may be liable for any injury sustained by the infant which was proximately caused by his or her negligence. While a person caring for entrusted children is not cast in the role of an insurer, such an individual is obligated to provide adequate supervision and may be held liable for foreseeable injuries proximately resulting from the negligent failure to do so.(Alotta v Diaz, 130 AD3d 660 [2d Dept 2015], quoting Appell v Mandel, 296 AD2d 514 [2d Dept 2002]).
A "summer camp is duty-bound to supervise its campers as would a parent of ordinary prudence in comparable circumstances." (Phelps v Boy Scouts of Am., 305 AD2d 335 [1st Dept 2003]). And, while the degree of supervision required depends on the surrounding circumstances, "constant supervision in a camp setting is neither feasible nor desirable." (Id. at 335-6).
The standard for determining whether a duty to supervise a minor has been breached is "whether a parent of ordinary prudence placed in the identical situation and armed with the same information would invariably have provided greater supervision." ( Mayo v New York City Tr. Auth., 124 AD3d 606 [2d Dept 2015], quoting Mary KK v Jack LL, 2013 AD2d 840 [3d Dept 1994]).
Moreover, "in determining whether the duty to provide adequate supervision has been breached in the context of injuries caused by the acts of fellow [campers], it must be established that [camp] authorities had sufficiently specific knowledge or notice of the dangerous conduct which caused the injury, that is, that the third-party acts could reasonably have been anticipated." (Ragusa v Town of Huntington, 54 AD3d 743 [2d Dept 2008], quoting Mirand v City of New York, 84 NY2d 44 [1994]). Although if an accident occurs in "so short a span in time that even the most intense supervision could not have prevented it, any lack of supervision is not the proximate cause of the injury and summary judgment in favor of the . . . defendants is warranted.'" (Atehortua v Lewin, 90 AD3d 794 [2d Dept 2011], quoting Nash v Port Wash. Union Free School Dist., 83 AD3d 136 [2d Dept 2011]). 1. Was the supervision adequate?
Even though plaintiff does not remember the accident, the other boys' versions of it are consistent and uniform, and present the following picture: Plaintiff and the other scouts walked to the shower house and went inside without incident, whereupon plaintiff obtained a water pump and started spraying water on them. When one of the scouts told plaintiff to stop, he ran out of the shower house, and fell.
Plaintiff's contention is that for defendants' supervision to have been adequate that night, the Troop leaders should have escorted or walked the scouts to the shower house, waited outside while they showered, and then walked them back to their campsite. As it is undisputed that the scouts ranged in age from 13 to 16, that they were at Floodwood to learn skills related to survival in the woods and to partake in a 15-mile canoe trip, that the scouts utilized a buddy system when at various camps and that Troop leaders never escorted them to the bathrooms or showers, that the shower house was approximately a three to five-minute walk from their campsite, and that the shower house was located within the camp area where other campers and adults were present and within earshot, defendants have demonstrated that a parent of ordinary prudence placed in the identical situation and armed with the same information would not have provided greater supervision than that provided by defendants.
Moreover, a parent who permits his or her child to attend an overnight camping trip in the woods where the child will be taught skills related to understanding and surviving outdoor conditions, is presumably aware of the hazards and risks of injury associated with such conditions, and it would be illogical for that same parent to require or believe it necessary for the child to be escorted personally to and from every area within the camp. Such a degree of supervision "in a camp setting is neither feasible nor desirable" (Phelps v Boy Scouts of Am., 305 AD2d 335 [1st Dept 2003]), and camps "cannot reasonably be expected to continuously supervise and control all of [the campers] movements and activities" (Harris v Five Point Mission - Camp Olmstedt, 73 AD3d 1127 [2d Dept 2010]).
On point is Kosok v Young Men's Christian Assn. of Greater New York, where a group of boys at a summer camp injured the plaintiff while playing a prank involving attaching a pail to a fishing rod and letting it descend onto the heads of other unsuspecting boys. The group of boys, ranging in age from 12 to 15, occupied a cabin by themselves; the camp counselor did not stay in the cabin with them during the midday break. The Court dismissed the case, finding that there was no negligence by defendants in failing to supervise "the rest period of boys of high-school age for a short period." (24 AD2d 113 [1st Dept 1965], affd 19 NY2d 935 [1967]). The Court observed that "[r]emembering that this is a Summer camp, it will be seen that constant supervision is not feasible . . . Nor is it desirable. One of the benefits of such an institution is to inculcate self-reliance in the campers which an overly protective supervision would destroy." (24 AD2d at 115; see also Gustin v Assn. of Camps Farthest Out, Inc., 267 AD2d 1001 [4th Dept 1999] [same]).
Plaintiff's reliance on Phelps v Boy Scouts of Am. is misplaced. As I held in granting summary judgment to Boy Scouts of America:
In Phelps . . . "very young campers" were placed in bunks at a camp with "much older campers," who allegedly assaulted the young campers . . . The court also allowed that very young campers often require closer supervision than older campers, and that placing the younger campers in the bunks with the older campers was an apparent violation of camp policy.(305 AD2d 335 [1st Dept 2003]).
Here, there is no issue of very young campers being unsupervised or placed in risky circumstances as plaintiff and his fellow scouts were all teenagers and there is no evidence that any camp policy was violated . . .
Moreover, plaintiff's reliance on Saunders's conclusion or opinion in the DOH report that the accident was caused by inadequate supervision is not conclusive here, not only because he had no authority to bind defendants to his conclusion, but also based on the circumstances that he was an 18-year old who had never before filled out or even seen a DOH report, and who had received no training or guidance as to how it should be filled out or the meanings of the terms therein. In any event, Saunders testified that he wrote that there was inadequate supervision based only on the fact that the Troop leaders were not physically present at the time of the accident, which is an insufficient basis for the conclusion.
Plaintiff's submission of the stipulation between DOH and defendants to establish that there was inadequate supervision is barred by the stipulation's own terms.
Peterson's expert opinion is based on speculation and is conclusory, and he cites no regulation or requirement that specifies that adequate supervision in this context means that the Troop leaders were required to escort the scouts to the shower house and wait outside until they finished showering. Indeed, any claim that such supervision is required in camps is undermined by the undisputed fact that at the camp that the scouts attended a week before going to Floodwood, the scouts went to the shower house unescorted and used only the buddy system. Reliance on the DOH requirement of "visual or verbal communication" between campers and counselors and Council's plan for Floodwood which required the supervision of campers "24/7" is misplaced as neither requires that the Troop leaders be constantly present with the scouts. (See eg, Harris v Five Point Mission - Camp Olmstedt, 73 AD3d 1127 [2d Dept 2010] [while expert concluded that camp was negligent in failing to provide plaintiff with shin guards during soccer game in which he was injured, he failed to allege that camps generally provide shin guards during games or that rules requiring use of shin guards in soccer leagues have been implemented by or accepted as accepted practice at camps]; Cherry v State of New York, 42 AD2d 671 [4th Dept 1973], affd 34 NY2d 872 [1974] [where camper was injured when nail he struck with hammer while building tent platform struck him, expert's opinion that the camp was required to provide campers with safety goggles was expert's personal opinion and neither statute nor regulations required goggles]).
References to the "traipsing" or "wandering" in the woods unsupervised have no basis in the record; the scouts remained in the camp and never went into the woods. Moreover, the accident did not occur in the woods, and there is no correlation between the woods and plaintiff's accident.
In any event, whether or not defendants' supervision of plaintiff was adequate is irrelevant if the accident was not foreseeable or was not proximately caused by the allegedly inadequate supervision. 2. Was plaintiff's accident foreseeable?
As it is reasonably inferred that the accident occurred as described by the other scouts, there is no evidence suggesting that defendants were on notice that plaintiff and/or the scouts would engage in any dangerous conduct or misbehavior at the shower house. Moreover, even if some of the behavior was foreseeable, plaintiff's bolting from the shower house, and subsequent fall, was not a foreseeable consequence of any misbehavior.
Kosok is again on point here, with the Court finding that "[a]ssuming that the boys were reasonably quiet - and there is no indication that they were not - no occasion for looking in on them was presented." The Court also observed that:
[a] certain amount of horseplay is almost always to be found in gatherings of young people, and is generally associated with children's camps. It is only to be discouraged when it becomes dangerous. Nothing in the incident itself or surrounding circumstances indicates any notice to defendant that such was likely to result here.(24 AD2d at 115; see also Gibbud v Camp Shane, Inc., 30 AD3d 865 [3d Dept 2006] [same]).
Even if plaintiff had been assaulted by a fellow scout rather than having tripped and fallen, there is no evidence that defendants were on notice of the possibility of an assault. (See eg Alvero v Allen, 262 AD2d 434 [2d Dept 1999] [boy scout sued troop leader for injury caused by snowball fight; absent proof that leader had notice of ongoing and dangerous snowball fight, plaintiff could not prevail on inadequate supervision claim]; see also Osmanzai v Sports and Arts in Schools Foundation, Inc., 116 AD3d 937 [2d Dept 2014] [injury caused by impulsive, unanticipated act of fellow camper ordinarily will not give rise to negligence claim absent proof of prior conduct that would have given notice to protect against injury-causing act]).
As it is undisputed that defendants had no notice of the possibility of misbehavior among the scouts, they have established that plaintiff's accident was not foreseeable. 3. Was plaintiff's accident proximately caused by defendants' allegedly inadequate supervision?
Even if the Troop leaders had escorted the scouts to the shower house and stood outside while they showered, the alleged misbehavior occurred inside the shower house, and thus the leaders would neither have observed it nor been in a position to stop it. And unless the leaders blocked the entrance, they would not have been able to stop plaintiff from running out of the shower house and falling down.
Plaintiff's and Peterson's belief that the mere presence of the Troop leaders outside the shower house would have been sufficient to stop any horseplay from taking place inside is not only speculative, but unwarranted as the scouts had engaged in horseplay earlier that day while the leaders were with them. (See eg, Stephenson v City of New York, 85 AD3d 523 [1st Dept 2011], affd 19 NY3d 1031 [2012] [suggestion that student's assault on plaintiff would have been prevented by his mother accompanying her almost 14-year-old son to school every day did not rise above speculation]; see also Lizardo v Bd. of Educ. of City of New York, 77 AD3d 437 [1st Dept 2010] [rejecting plaintiff's expert's assertion that collision between children would have been preventable by teacher watching play more closely, and opinion that incident might have been prevented by closer supervision valid only in retrospect]; Walsh v City School Dist. of Albany, 237 AD2d 811 [3d Dept 1997] [finding unpersuasive allegation that presence of supervisor could have kept plaintiff and fellow student attentive and injury would have been prevented]).
In any event, the accident occurred too quickly to enable the Troop leaders to prevent it had they been outside the shower house. As in Kosok, "[e]ven if the cabin counsellor had been within earshot of the cabin, it is difficult to see how the accident would have been prevented." (24 AD2d at 115; see Harris v Five Point Mission - Camp Olmstedt, 73 AD3d 1127 [2d Dept 2010] [as plaintiff was injured at camp during 15-second time span, camp established that it did not negligently supervise him]; see also Jorge C. v City of New York, 128 AD3d 410 [1st Dept 2015] [defendant established that student's injury did not arise from inadequate supervision, but from impulsive and unanticipated acts of fellow student of finding balloon, filling it with water, and attempting to throw it at plaintiff, and plaintiff running away and looking backwards rather than ahead]).
Moreover, it was plaintiff's own impulsive and reckless conduct in squirting the other scouts with the water pump and then running out of the shower house, that led to his injury. (See Gibbud v Camp Shane, Inc., 30 AD3d 865 [3d Dept 2006] [plaintiff's own impulsive and reckless act in grabbing camp counselor from behind, causing counselor to drop plaintiff and fracture plaintiff's ankle, led to his injury]).
Thus, as the accident occurred in a very short time span and as plaintiff's own impulsive conduct led to his injury, defendants have demonstrated that there is no proximate cause between their allegedly inadequate supervision and plaintiff's accident. B. Did Council breach their duty to illuminate adequately the area around the shower house?
Plaintiff has not identified what caused him to fall, whether it was part of the shower house or something on the ground, either a rock or tree branch or uneven patch of dirt. Absent any such evidence and even if plaintiff is unable to recall, there is no basis on which it may be found that plaintiff's injury was proximately caused by the lack of lighting around the area. (See Lynn v Lynn, 216 AD2d 194 [1st Dept 1995] [plaintiff's amnesia did not reduce her burden of proving that allegedly defective condition of stairway was proximate cause of fall]).
Moreover, plaintiff was wearing a working headlamp at the time of the incident, and neither plaintiff nor his expert identified a regulation or rule requiring defendants to light the area around the shower house at all or in any particular manner.
Plaintiff was able, however, to recall the conditions outside of the shower house, which consisted of typical conditions in any wooded or camp area, i.e., rocks, dirt, branches, etc., and having been on several camp trips, was presumably aware of the existence and risks of such conditions. He did not identify or recall any unusual, unexpected, or dangerous conditions, nor have any such conditions been alleged.
In Kimbar v Estis, a young camper had wandered off a camp path at night and hit a tree. The Court found that the camp owners had no duty to illuminate the path in the absence of any particular danger on the path, finding:
We have before us a simple camper-camp relationship and the rustic, outdoor camp life that is the very raison d'e tre [sic] of summer establishments such as defendants'. There are certain risks incidental to camping, but these are part of an adventurous summer camp life, and are necessarily assumed by those who would participate therein . . .1 NY2d 399 [1956]). Defendants thus establish that they breached no duty to illuminate the area around the shower house and that, in any event, the area did not constitute a dangerous condition for which they may be held liable. (See Torres v State of New York, 18 AD3d 739 [2d Dept 2005] [park owner not liable for injury sustained when plaintiff tripped over tree stump in park; "landowners will not be held liable for injuries arising from a condition on the property that is inherent or incidental to the nature of the property, and that could be reasonably anticipated by those using it"]; Mazzola v Mazzola, 16 AD3d 629 [2d Dept 2005] [dismissing claim by infant plaintiff who tripped and fell over exposed tree roots in backyard as alleged defect was inherent to nature of land]; Moriello v Stormville Airport Antique Show & Flea Market, Inc., 271 AD2d 664 [2d Dept 2000] [owner of field not liable for injuries to plaintiff who tripped on flat rock while walking on unpaved roadway; rock was inherent to nature of unpaved roadway]; Csukardi v Bishop McDonnell Camp, 148 AD2d 657 [2d Dept 1989] [campground owner not liable to person who tripped over grass-covered stump in wooded area, as stump was incidental to nature of campground and could be reasonably anticipated by persons traversing wooded area]; Alcantara v Fed. Girl Scout Councils of Nassau County, Inc., 24 AD2d 585 [2d Dept 1965] [plaintiff could not recover for injury sustained at camp when she tripped over tree stump; defendant conducted rustic outdoor camp and paths were unpaved, and condition of premises was thus incidental to nature of camp and to be ordinarily expected by plaintiff]). IV. CONCLUSION
Indeed, it is expected that a camp will have trees, that paths will lead through woods and that woods will be dark at night. It is not to be anticipated that floodlights will be supplied for campers through woodland paths. One naturally assumes many ordinary risks when in the woods and in the country trails are not smooth sidewalks, paths are not paved, trees, brush and insects are to be expected, and even snakes may appear occasionally. These and more are all a part of accepted camp life.
To hold summer camps to a duty of floodlighting woods would not only impose upon them a condition almost impracticable under many circumstances but would be unfair, as well, to the youth who seek the adventure of living closer to nature, participating in outdoor astronomical study at night or bird study before dawn, or when overnight hikes take them for study and adventure far from any source of electrical power. Such a duty, in short, would frequently compel camps to keep boys confined after dark and thereby effectively spell the end of some of the most desirable activities of real camping life.
For all of these reasons, it is hereby
ORDERED, that the motion of defendants Northern New Jersey Council, Inc., Boy Scouts of America and Boy Scout Troop 141 for summary judgment dismissing the action against them is granted, and the complaint is dismissed as against them, with costs and disbursements to said defendants as taxed by the Clerk upon the submission of an appropriate bill of costs, and is further
ORDERED, that the clerk is directed to enter judgment accordingly.
ENTER:
Barbara Jaffe, JSC DATED:March 10, 2016 New York, New York