Charitable Organizations in New Jersey Can Play Ball if the Sport is Supervised (NJ)

C.H. v. Rahway Board of Education, a recent decision from the New Jersey Appellate Division, involved a plaintiff-student who got injured while playing in a student-teacher fundraising basketball game.  Plaintiff collided with a teacher during the game when they both jumped up for a rebound.  She injured her knee as a result.

The trial court granted summary judgment to defendants since plaintiff presented no evidence of negligent supervision, nor was there any evidence that the teacher acted recklessly or intentionally.  On appeal, plaintiff argued that the teacher owed her a duty of supervisory care and that there were material fact issues as to whether the teacher acted recklessly.  The court disagreed since plaintiff’s description of the incident showed that the teacher did not act recklessly or intentionally and there was no showing of a breach of the duty to supervise.  Moreover, the game was officiated by a referee, additional supervision was provided by five teachers who did not participate in the game and there were no facts showing the game was being played in a reckless or out of control manner when plaintiff was injured.

This decision is yet another step in New Jersey toward virtually eliminating a host or sponsor’s potential liability for supervised recreational or sporting events involving voluntary participants.

Thanks to Michael Noblett for his contribution to this post.