NY Injury: Reasonable Supervision of Child

While some accidents are very straightforward, a car accident for instance, some are not clear cut. New York Accident and Injuries are not all the same. Serious injuries can come to children who are not properly supervised. In JUSTIN M. v. Beadle, 2021 N.Y. Slip Op 1108 (App. Div. 2021), "plaintiff's son, Fynn M. (hereinafter the child), received catastrophic injuries as a result of his attempt to perform a flip off of a picnic table located in defendant Amy Beadle's back yard." When serious injury and harm comes to a child, it is tragic and often times the injuries can persist for the rest of that young person's life.

Accident and Catastrophic injury is terrible when it happens to children and the question becomes are the parents responsible? What about a claim for negligent supervision? While some issues of law are handled by the court, issues of fact regarding injuries go to the jury.

The Appellate Court needs to determine whether this case should go to a trial or whether there was no duty to the child who was seriously injured:

"An action for negligence involves three essential elements: first, the existence of a duty owing by the defendant to the plaintiff; second, [the] defendant's failure to discharge that duty; third, injury to [the] plaintiff proximately resulting from such failure" (Barr v County of Albany, 69 AD2d 914, 915 [1979] [citations omitted], mod 50 NY2d 247 [1980]). A plaintiff claiming negligent supervision must demonstrate both that the defendant breached his or her duty to provide adequate supervision and that this breach was the proximate cause of the injuries sustained (see Beninati v City of Troy, 163 AD3d 1241, 1242 [2018]). However, "[i]n the absence of duty, there is no breach and without a breach there is no liability" (Pulka v Edelman, 40 NY2d 781, 782 [1976]).

Accident and injury attorneys can best explain negligence and liability yet, all of us know, that serious injury can happen when minors are not supervised... here, "defendant Brielle Beadle, was home from college and was upstairs sleeping. Sometime in the early afternoon, the child went outside to play in the snow and film content for his YouTube channel. To that end, he attempted the flip from the picnic table into the snow and was seriously injured." "The adequacy of supervision and proximate cause are generally issues of fact for the jury" (LaValley v Northeastern Clinton Cent. Sch. Dist., 130 AD3d 1276, 1277 [2015] [citations omitted]).

In allowing the matter to proceed, the Court notes that "It is undisputed that the child was left unattended without any adult supervision for approximately six hours." These legal questions were resolved in favor of a jury and justice for the seriously injured child. Catastrophic injury trial moves forward.

The case is JUSTIN M. v. Beadle, 2021 N.Y. Slip Op 1108 (App. Div. 2021). Cory H. Morris, Esq. New York and Florida, Injury, Addiction, Accident, Call the Law Offices of Cory H. Morris, 631-450-2515 (NYS) (954) 998-2918 (FLA)