Summary
affirming denial of summary judgment for defendants, finding genuine issue of material fact concerning whether plaintiff assumed risk by playing basketball in indoor gym, where evidence reflected that gym was dimly lit, floor was warped and uneven, and puddles of water had been allowed to accumulate at various locations throughout the gym
Summary of this case from Cox v. McKernanOpinion
February 8, 1993
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Kings County (Krausman, J.).
Ordered that the order is affirmed, with costs.
The plaintiff allegedly slipped in a puddle of water while he was participating in a basketball practice in the defendants' gym. "As a general rule, participants [in sports] properly may be held to have consented, by their participation, to those injury-causing events which are known, apparent or reasonably foreseeable consequences of the participation" (see, Turcotte v Fell, 68 N.Y.2d 432, 439; see also, Owen v R.J.S. Safety Equip., 169 A.D.2d 150, 155, affd 79 N.Y.2d 967; Maddox v City of New York, 66 N.Y.2d 270, 277-278). In the instant case, there was some evidence that the area was dimly lit, that the gymnasium floor was warped and uneven, and that puddles of water had been allowed to accumulate at various locations throughout the gymnasium. We agree with the Supreme Court's finding that under these circumstances there is a question of fact as to whether the plaintiff assumed the risk by voluntarily participating in the basketball practice (see, e.g., Owen v R.J.S. Safety Equip., supra; Radwaner v USTA Natl. Tennis Ctr., 189 A.D.2d 605; Henig v Hofstra Univ., 160 A.D.2d 761; Parisi v Harpursville Cent. School Dist., 160 A.D.2d 1079, 1080; Eddy v Syracuse Univ., 78 A.D.2d 989). Thompson, J.P., Balletta, O'Brien and Ritter, JJ., concur.