In November 2019, the jury entered a verdict of no cause in the
New Jersey Superior Court, Somerset County Vicinage finding that
the Bound Brook Board of Education and a baseball coach were not
liable for a player’s ankle injury sustained while sliding to
third base. The injury occurred during a junior varsity high school
baseball game. As a result of the slide, the minor, who was in
ninth grade, required multiple surgeries, which Plaintiff contended
ended his athletic career. Plaintiff argued at a trial that it was
dangerous for the coach to instruct Plaintiff to slide when he was
running at full speed and was too close to the base at the time the
signal was given.
Plaintiff initially filed suit alleging Defendants
“negligently” and “carelessly” supervised
the baseball game. Although summary judgment was granted to
Defendants, who argued that the coach did not breach the heightened
recklessness standard articulated in Crawn v. Campo, 136
N.J. 494 (1994), the
