Ryan v. Fahey

The question we are here called upon to decide is whether a non sui juris child, injured while at play, can bring a lawsuit against his mother for failing .to properly supervise his activities. In so doing, we must determine whether such an action was within the contemplation of the Court of Appeals in Gelbman v. Gelbman (23 N Y 2d 434) when it abolished the defense of intrafamilial immunity from suit on nonwillful torts. In our view, it was not.

We have before us a situation in which the plaintiff, a three-year-old boy, was playing in the backyafd of a neighbor’s home when 'the neighbor’s…