During a hay ride on a school field trip to the Green Meadows Farm in Floral Park, Queens, kindergarten student Elizabeth David was injured when a bump on the trail propelled her from her seat to the wagon's floor.
When the Queens County Supreme Court denied the school's request that the case be dismissed, Saint Raymond's appealed to the Appellate Division, Second Department, which reversed.
According to the AD2, while schools are under a duty to adequately supervise students in their charge -- and will be held liable for "foreseeable" injuries resulting from negligent failure to provide adequate supervision -- they are not "insurers" of their students' safety.
David was unable to substantiate her claim that Saint Raymond's had failed to provide the requisite level of supervision, as there was one supervisor sitting next to the child and another riding directly across from her when the accident occurred.
Furthermore, by establishing that all prior field trips to that destination had not resulted in any similar injuries, Saint Raymond's defeated David's assertion that the school had knowledge or notice that the hay ride would be hazardous.
Can't make much more hay out of that.
For a copy of the Appellate Division's decision, please use this link: David v. City of New York