Hockey is a big sport in Buffalo, and many of our children are involved in this activity. Parents should warn their children, however, to take all necessary steps to avoid injury when playing. This is especially important because if a child is seriously injured while playing a sport or in gym, it is often difficult to obtain compensation for the injury.
The recent case of Bramswig v. Pleasantville Middle School offers a good example of this fact. In that case, twelve year old Sean Bramswig was playing floor hockey in gym when he was accidently struck in the mouth by a high stick. He required oral surgery to stabilize his front teeth and required stitches on his lip.
In his personal injury claim, Sean’s lawyers asserted that he was injured due to inadequate instruction and supervision and failure by the school to provide proper safety equipment. Many of their claims, such as failure to provide mouth guards, were dismissed by the lower court before trial based on prior legal precedent.
The final claim by the plaintiff, that the defendant did not provide adequate instruction regarding high sticking by failing to distinguish between high sticking above the knee versus above the waist, was dismissed on appeal by the Appellate Division for the Second Department. Since Sean was struck by a stick raised above the waist in violation of the supervisor’s directions, the Appellate Division reasoned that it did not matter whether the children were provided with any direction distinguishing between the knees and the waist as the appropriate level to keep the stick under.
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