Assumption of Risk Doctrine Loses Steam Where ‘Compulsion’ Is Present

A New York state appeals court has reversed a trial court decision which granted a school’s motion for summary judgment in a case in which several students had sued the school after they were injured while participating in a relay race.   The defendants had successfully argued at the trial court level that the students assumed the risk of injury by participating in the race. The appeals court, however, found that “the element of voluntariness was overcome by the compulsion of a superior