Everyone can remember their high school gym class.  Some people attended simply because they had to, while other, more competitive students may have taken their participation more seriously.  When participating in a mandated physical activity at school, accidents can happen, and students may sustain injuries.  As is demonstrated below, plaintiffs may have a difficult burden establishing a school’s liability when a student is injured in gym.

In Scavelli v. Town of Carmel et al., the infant plaintiff alleged that he was injured in his physical education class during a game of “speedball” when a fellow student tripped him while they were both going for the same ball.  The plaintiff sued his classmate as well as the school, asserting negligent supervision and instruction.  At a municipal hearing, the plaintiff testified he was not sure whether his classmate had intentionally stuck his foot out to trip him.  Later, during his deposition, the plaintiff contradicted his earlier testimony stating that his classmate had intentionally tripped him because he was an aggressive player and that he had shoved a different student during an earlier gym class.

In reversing the trial court’s denial of the school’s motion for summary judgment, the Appellate Division reasoned that because the incident occurred so quickly, even the most intense supervision could not have prevented it.  Furthermore, the Court opined that even though there was evidence that the plaintiff’s classmate had shoved another student in a previous gym class, this was “insufficiently specific to place the School District on notice of the conduct that led to the infant plaintiff’s injuries.”  Finally, the Court noted that “while the compulsory nature of the gym class activities precludes an assumption of risk defense, it . . . does not deprive the School District of its defense that the incident was sudden and unexpected.”

Students may have accidents in physical education.  However, just because a student is injured as a result of physical contact during gym class does not mean that the gym teacher, or the school, was negligent in its care and supervision of the students.  Even where an assumption of risk defense is unavailable, schools may avoid liability if the incident was “sudden and unexpected.”

Thanks to Jeremy Seeman for his contribution to this post.