New York Case Holds 4-Year Old Can Be Sued
Posted By Mulvey Law on Nov 9, 2010 12:50am PST
Last week, a judge in New York ruled that a 4-year old could be sued in a personal injury action. The plaintiff in the case is the estate of an 87-year-old woman. The defendants are a 4-year-old girl, a 5-year-old boy and their moms.
It started with the two kids riding their bikes -- the little girl's still had training wheels -- on the sidewalk outside their building. Their mothers were nearby. The kids decided to have a race, and a few seconds later they knocked over the elderly woman who had been walking in their path. Her injuries included a broken hip, and she had surgery to repair it. After the victim died (not as a result of the accident), her estate sued the two children and their mothers, alleging that the accident was the result of the children's negligence.
The 4-year-old girl's attorney filed a motion to dismiss, on the grounds that she had not been involved in an adult activity at the time of the accident, that she was too young to be held liable and that her mother had been present at the time of the accident. Cases from as far back as 1928 supported his argument: The state's courts had held time and time again that a child under the age of 4 is "conclusively presumed to be incapable of negligence."
The judge found the argument had no merit, principally because the girl was not under 4, she was 4 and closing in on 5 at the time of the accident. Though certainly young, she did not fall within the parameters of the rule.
The judge also disagreed with the argument that the mother had been supervising the little girl. The evidence showed that she had been present, but there was nothing about her "supervising." The term itself was too vague to be meaningful here. And, the mere fact of the mother's presence "does not give a reasonable child carte blanche to engage in risky behavior." It would be different if the mother had actively encouraged the risky behavior. In that case, the judge said, the girl would not have been accountable.
So, it seems Courts are open to holding even very young children liable for their negligent acts.