In Lee (Litigation Guardian of) v. Toronto District School
Board,1 the infant plaintiff Cliff Lee suffered a
catastrophic brain bleed after an altercation with another student
while they were both in grade two. He and his family, under the
Family Law Act,2 sued the Toronto School
District in common law negligence and occupiers' liability.
The incident occurred on November 26, 1998. The school in
question aligned in a north-south direction and the main body of
the school also aligned in that direction, in the shape of a
reverse letter "L". The tarmac area was located in the
"crook" of the "L". There were two play
structures on the edge of the tarmac. The northerly play structure
was for grades one and two (the "small primary climber").
To the south of that was the junior climber, for older children.
The court noted that one could see through both structures. It was
noted that "from certain angles, they obscure but do not
completely obstruct a view through them to the
