Opinion
01-13-2016
Victoire Marie POCHAT, etc., et al., respondents, v. MONROE WOODBURY CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT, appellant.
Henderson & Brennan (Congdon, Flaherty, O'Callaghan, Reid, Donlon, Travis & Fishlinger, Uniondale, N.Y. [Christine Gasser ], of counsel), for appellant. Schonberg Law Offices of the Hudson Valley, P.C., Central Valley, N.Y. (Susan R. Nudelman and Bruce Schonberg of counsel), for respondents.
Henderson & Brennan (Congdon, Flaherty, O'Callaghan, Reid, Donlon, Travis & Fishlinger, Uniondale, N.Y. [Christine Gasser ], of counsel), for appellant.
Schonberg Law Offices of the Hudson Valley, P.C., Central Valley, N.Y. (Susan R. Nudelman and Bruce Schonberg of counsel), for respondents.
L. PRISCILLA HALL, J.P., LEONARD B. AUSTIN, SHERI S. ROMAN, and BETSY BARROS, JJ.
In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, etc., the defendant appeals from an order of the Supreme Court, Orange County (Bartlett, J.), dated April 13, 2015, which denied its motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint.
ORDERED that the order is affirmed, with costs.
On March 20, 2012, the plaintiff Victoire Marie Pochat (hereinafter the infant plaintiff) allegedly fell from monkey bars onto the playground surface during recess at school. At the time of the accident, the infant plaintiff was a third-grade student at North Main Elementary School, located in the Town of Monroe, Orange County, which was under the control of the defendant.
In support of its motion for summary judgment, the defendant failed to demonstrate, prima facie, that the ground cover underneath the monkey bars was maintained in a reasonably safe condition on the date of the accident (see Prosser v. County of Erie, 244 A.D.2d 942, 665 N.Y.S.2d 216 ; Vonungern v. Morris Cent. School, 240 A.D.2d 926, 658 N.Y.S.2d 760 ; cf. Y.H. v. Town of Ossining, 99 A.D.3d 760, 761–762, 952 N.Y.S.2d 579 ; Giulini v. Union Free School Dist. # 1, 70 A.D.3d 632, 634, 895 N.Y.S.2d 453 ; Gray v. South Colonie Cent. School Dist., 64 A.D.3d 1125, 1129, 883 N.Y.S.2d 647 ; Banks v. Freeport Union Free School Dist., 302 A.D.2d 341, 753 N.Y.S.2d 890 ). Since the defendant failed to establish its prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of law dismissing the cause of action alleging premises liability, it is unnecessary to consider the plaintiffs' opposition papers with respect to that cause of action (see Winegrad v. New York Univ. Med. Center, 64 N.Y.2d 851, 853, 487 N.Y.S.2d 316, 476 N.E.2d 642 ).
With respect to the plaintiffs' cause of action alleging negligent supervision, the defendant failed to demonstrate, prima facie, that the infant plaintiff was adequately supervised at the time of the accident or that its alleged negligent supervision was not a proximate cause of the accident (see Mirand v. City of New York, 84 N.Y.2d 44, 614 N.Y.S.2d 372, 637 N.E.2d 263 ). Since the defendant failed to establish its prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of law dismissing the cause of action alleging negligent supervision, it is unnecessary to consider the plaintiffs' opposition papers with respect to that cause of action (see Winegrad v. New York Univ. Med. Center, 64 N.Y.2d at 853, 487 N.Y.S.2d 316, 476 N.E.2d 642 ).
Accordingly, the Supreme Court properly denied the defendant's motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint.