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Aronson v. Horace Mann-Barnard School
Citations: 224 A.D.2d 249; 637 N.Y.S.2d 410; 1996 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 1017
Court: Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York; February 7, 1996; New York; State Appellate Court
The Supreme Court of Bronx County, presided by Justice Anne E. Targum, issued an order on September 8, 1995, reversing the lower court's denial of defendants' motion for summary judgment. The court granted the motion, resulting in the dismissal of the complaint against the defendants without costs. Key findings included that the plaintiff, a high school senior and experienced swimmer/diver, was familiar with the school's pool depths and had previously dived from both the diving board and racing platforms. During practice for a 50-yard underwater swim, the plaintiff misexecuted a "racing" dive, leading to her head striking the pool bottom. The court concluded that while the plaintiff was not reckless, her negligence in executing the dive was the sole cause of her injuries. The school, Horace Mann-Barnard, owed a duty of care akin to that of a reasonably prudent parent, but its actions did not constitute proximate cause for the accident. The court determined that the established facts allowed for only one conclusion regarding legal cause—her own negligence—thereby entitling the defendants to summary judgment and dismissal of the case. The decision was concurred by Justices Rosenberger, Ellerin, Kupferman, Nardelli, and Mazzarelli.