Singerman v. Municipal Service Bureau, Inc

In Singerman v. Municipal Service Bureau, Inc, 455 Mich 135, 145, 565 N.W.2d 383 (Weaver, J.), 146 (Mallet, J.); 565 NW2d 383 (1997), the Supreme Court of Michigan determined that no proximate cause existed where the alleged negligence only made the injury possible, but did not put the injury-causing agent in motion. In Singerman, the plaintiff was injured at an ice rink when a hockey puck struck him in the eye. Id. at 136-137. The plaintiff contended that the defendants' failure to enforce the rink's mandatory helmet rule caused his injury. The plaintiff did not assert that a helmet would have prevented his eye injury. Rather, he contended that if the defendants had ordered him off the ice, he would not have been present at the time the injury occurred. Id. at 144-145. The Court concluded that the plaintiff failed to satisfy the proximate cause element of his negligence claim. Id. at 145.