Bieker v. Community House of Moorestown

In Bieker v. Community House of Moorestown, 169 N.J. 167, 177, 777 A.2d 37 (2001), the plaintiff was the three year old son of a member of an adult men's basketball group who suffered personal injuries when he fell from a fire escape adjoining the basketball court. Because the members of the men's basketball group were not employees or agents of a non-profit entity, the Charitable Immunity Act would not have immunized them from tort liability arising out of a basketball game or the supervision of a participant's child. Nevertheless, the Court held that unless it could be shown that the dominant use of the nonprofit organization's facilities was rentals by for-profit entities, it would be entitled to charitable immunity because the use of its facilities by members of the general public serves "important social and recreational needs of the community." 169 N.J. at 177, 777 A.2d 37.