Nasser v. Nakhbo

In Nasser v. Nakhbo, 13 Misc. 3d 1223[A], 831 N.Y.S.2d 348, 2006 NY Slip Op 51961[U] (Supreme Court, Kings County 2006), an infant plaintiff was injured when he was struck by a motor vehicle after being discharged from school into a school yard which opened onto a side street with no cross-walk or crossing guard in that area of the block. Plaintiff conceded". . . that the duty of care toward a student generally ends when custody of the student is relinquished", but argued, "when the student is released into a potentially hazardous situation . . . the duty continues". Id. In Nasser, the Court rejected the argument that the release of the child from school into the school yard that opened to a street, a potentially hazardous situation, continued the duty to the student. The Court found that plaintiff had failed to raise a triable issue of fact. In granting the motion for summary judgment, the Court reasoned, "[i]t is well settled that a school's duty to protect the child from the negligence of a third party is coextensive with, and concomitant to, its physical custody and control over the child . When that custody ceases because the child has passed out of the orbit of its authority in such a way that the parent is free to reassume control over the child's protection, the school's custodial duty also ceases . As a result, when a student is injured off school premises, generally the school cannot be held liable for the breach of a duty that extends only to the boundaries of school property." Id.