Practice point: The bus defendants established their prima facie entitlement to judgment
as a matter of law by demonstrating that they had no notice of any
violent propensities or disciplinary problems on the part of the
assailant. The assailant's act of punching the infant plaintiff was sudden
and unforeseeable, and any lack of supervision was not a proximate
cause of the infant's alleged injuries.
Student note: Like a school, a school bus company has a duty to adequately
supervise children in its care, and to exercise the same degree of care
toward them as would a reasonably prudent parent under similar
circumstances. However, schools and school bus companies are not
insurers of their students' safety. For liability to attach,
they must have notice of the specific dangerous conduct so as to render
the injury foreseeable, as well as a reasonable opportunity to prevent
it.
Case: Braun v. Longwood Jr. High School, NY Slip Op 08595 (2d Dept. 2014)
Here is the decision.
Tomorrow's issue: A rear-end collision and a negligence claim.
