I.R. Ex Rel. Norma C. v. Leake & Watts Services, Inc.

139 A.D.3d 641, 30 N.Y.S.3d 866

• Court: Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
• Decided: May 31, 2016
• Docket: 1335 350589/09
• Status: Published

Opinion

Order, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Sharon A.M. Aarons, J.), entered April 9, 2015, which denied defendant Leake and Watts Services, Inc.’s motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint and all cross claims as against it, unanimously reversed, on the law, without costs, the motion granted, and the complaint dismissed as to it. The Clerk is directed to enter judgment accordingly.

Even assuming that defendant owed a duty of adequate care to plaintiff for an assault that occurred on a school bus it neither owned nor operated (see Ernest v Red Cr. Cent. School Dist., 93 NY2d 664, 671 [1999]; David XX. v Saint Catherine’s Ctr. for Children, 267 AD2d 813, 815 [3d Dept 1999]), there were no issues of fact as to whether “school authorities had sufficiently specific knowledge or notice of the dangerous conduct which caused injury” (Mirand v City of New York, 84 NY2d 44, 49 [1994]). There was no evidence in the record to suggest that defendant had prior knowledge of any propensity or inclination of violence on the part of plaintiff’s assailant demonstrating that the assault could have been anticipated or was foreseeable (see Hallock v Riverhead Cent. School Dist., 53 AD3d 527 [2d Dept 2008]; Dia CC. v Ithaca City School Dist., 304 AD2d 955 [3d Dept 2003], lv denied 100 NY2d 506 [2003]; Shante D. v City of New York, 190 AD2d 356, 362 [1st Dept 1993], affd 83 NY2d 948 [1994]).

Concur — Friedman, J.P., Renwick, Moskowitz, Richter and Kapnick, JJ.