TORTS | PERSONAL INJURY 36-2-5381 Ackerman v. Franklin Township Board of Education, App. Div. (per curiam) (20 pp.) Plaintiff, a minor, by her guardian ad litem, appealed from the summary judgment dismissal of her negligence action against defendant, the Franklin Township Board of Education and others. Plaintiff was injured during recess, while using the school playground merry-go-round. In its motion for summary judgment, defendant argued plaintiffs complaint was barred by the immunity provisions of the New Jersey Tort Claims Act. The motion judge concluded the merry-go-round was neither a defective nor dangerous condition on defendants property. Further, the judge held defendants decisions not to limit access to the merry-go-round or to assign a specific number of playground supervisors during recess was not palpably unreasonable and did not support plaintiffs theory that more supervisors would have prevented her injury. Accordingly, the judge dismissed plaintiffs complaint with prejudice. On appeal, plaintiff argued the heightened palpably unreasonable standard is inapplicable to her claims, which she asserted fall within the enumerated exceptions found within the TCA. Alternatively, she contended the evidence sufficiently shows the merry-go-round constituted a dangerous condition, defendants conduct was palpably unreasonable, and her claims of liability for negligent supervision should not have been dismissed. The appellate panel affirmed the dismissal of plaintiffs claim regarding the condition of defendants property. However, the panel reversed the order dismissing her claim for negligent supervision, reinstated that claim and remanded the matter to the Law Division.
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 17:14:41 +0000