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Slade v. New Horizon Ministries, Inc.
Citations: 785 So. 2d 1077; 2001 Miss. App. LEXIS 88; 2001 WL 216825Docket: No. 1999-CA-00941-COA
Court: Court of Appeals of Mississippi; March 5, 2001; Mississippi; State Appellate Court
An appeal was made by Pauline Slade against New Horizon Ministries, Inc. following a summary judgment granted in favor of New Horizon in a personal injury lawsuit. Slade argued that the lower court erred in its decision. The case involved Slade sustaining a broken hip after being accidentally knocked down by a participant of the Faith Works summer youth program, which is overseen by New Horizon. On the day of the incident, the program was conducting recreational activities at the Sykes Community Center, and due to bus issues, the participants were transported in a van. While some staff and children returned to the church, others remained at the gym under the supervision of Mr. Brown. The court affirmed the summary judgment, determining that Slade did not present sufficient evidence to demonstrate a lack of adequate supervision. The court noted that it reviewed the evidence favorably towards Slade but found no material issue of fact or law that warranted overturning the summary judgment, disagreeing with Slade’s reliance on a previous case, Summers v. St. Andrew’s Episcopal School, to support her argument. In the Summers case, teachers on playground duty were deemed insufficient in supervision as they were away from the area, unable to observe the children, and unaware of an incident. Contrarily, in the current case involving Brown, the supervisor was reasonably close, actively observing the children, and aware of the incident. The evidence indicates that New Horizon adequately supervised the children, without any indication that the incident was foreseeable or preventable with reasonable precautions. Ms. Slade’s injury occurred suddenly and accidentally, with no evidence suggesting that closer supervision would have prevented it. Additionally, there was no conduct from Cleotha or any Faith Works participant that would have alerted New Horizon to a foreseeable risk. Consequently, there is no issue for a jury regarding supervision adequacy, and the injury was not proximately caused by any alleged inadequacy. Therefore, the circuit court's summary judgment in favor of the appellee is affirmed, with all appeal costs assigned to the appellant.