A New York state appeals court has affirmed the partial dismissal of a claim of a youth hockey player, who — through his father — sued the municipality that operates a hockey facility after “a defective locker room bench tipped forward propelling him to the floor” and caused an injury.
In so ruling, the appeals court noted that the player was under the father’s control at the time of the incident, meaning that neither the municipality nor the third-party defendants, the New Jersey Devils, LLC, which operated the youth hockey team, and the boy’s coach could be held liable.
In March 2013, plaintiff Nicholas Beninati (hereinafter Beninati) was injured during a youth ice hockey event when a defective locker room bench tipped forward propelling him to the floor. The incident occurred during a break between two games Beninati’s team was playing at a hockey facility owned by defendant City of Troy. Beninati, through his father, George Beninati, commenced this negligence action against the city, alleging it failed to maintain the facility in good repair.
The city, in turn, commenced a third-party action against the Devils and the coach, contending that they breached their duty to supervise Beninati.
The third-party defendants then moved for summary judgment dismissing the complaint on the sole ground that the incident occurred while Beninati was in the custody and control of his father and, thus, they owed no duty to plaintiffs.
After a trial court ruled for the third-party defendants, the plaintiff appealed.
“Where a child participates in an athletic activity, such as the youth hockey program involved here, we recognize that the team and its coach owe a duty of care to adequately supervise the child while participating in the event,” wrote the appeals court, citing Pratt v Robinson, 39 NY2d 554, 560, 349 N.E.2d 849, 384 N.Y.S.2d 749 [1976]. “That custodial duty, however, ceases once the child is returned to the care and control of his or her parent.”
The court continued: “The pivotal question presented is whether Beninati was in the custody of his father or the coach at the time that he was injured. The record indicates that the first game ended around noon. In his deposition, Beninati explained that the coach instructed the players to ‘go eat lunch, without further direction. For his part, the coach maintains that he also advised the players to meet back in the locker room, equivocally explaining, ‘Most games it’s one hour before. I know the time frame was shorter because it was our second game of the day. So I’m guessing it was a half-hour to 40 minutes, but I don’t recall without looking at a schedule what time the games were.’
“There is no dispute that the players had lunch at an adjacent restaurant with their parents. After finishing lunch, which Beninati estimated took ‘probably a half-hour,’ he informed his father that he was returning to the locker room with his teammates. The players first returned to the assigned locker room, but then went to another locker room where several players began a game of ‘minihockey.’ It was while Beninati was observing this game that the bench fell forward, resulting in his injury.
The plaintiffs maintained that “the incident occurred at about 1:00 p.m., and there is inconsistent testimony as to whether the second game began at 1:30 p.m., 2:00 p.m. or 3:00 p.m.,” wrote the court.
“Cumulatively, the variable timeline testimony raises a question of fact as to whether the incident occurred during the time frame that the coach had instructed the players to return to the locker room. Notably, the coach permitted the players to play ‘mini-hockey’ in between games, but acknowledged that he would have intervened if they were playing in an unauthorized area. Under these circumstances, we agree with Supreme Court that a question of fact exists as to whether the coach’s obligation to supervise had resumed by the time Beninati was injured. This is so even though the coach was outside in the parking lot at the time of the incident (see Pratt v Robinson, 39 NY2d at 560; Duffy v Long Beach City Sch. Dist., 134 AD3d 761, 764, 22 N.Y.S.3d 88 [2015]). Accordingly, we find that Supreme Court properly denied third-party defendants’ motion for summary judgment.”
Nicholas Beninati, an Infant, by George Beninati, His Parent, et al. v City of Troy, et al. New Jersey Devils, LLC, et al.; Sup. Ct. of New York, App. Div., 3d Dept.; 2018 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 5170; 2018 NY Slip Op 05254; 7/12/18
Attorneys of Record: Roemer Wallens Gold & Mineaux LLP, Albany (Amanda D. Twinam of counsel) and Cabaniss Casey LLP, Albany (Alexandra M. George of counsel).
