Koppel v. Hebrew Academy of Five Towns

I respectfully disagree with the majority’s conclusion that the defendants are entitled to summary judgment dismissing the complaint, on the ground that it was not foreseeable that a child would attempt to climb its fence.

On October 23, 1983, the infant plaintiff Kara Koppel, then 14 years old, was injured while attempting to help a young boy off the defendants’ fence, which surrounded the defendant’s schoolyard and playground and was adjacent to the public sidewalk. The boy had started to climb the fence to retrieve a ball in the defendants’ playground, and allegedly became endangered by…