Calandri v. Ione Unified School District

Two fingers and a portion of the palm and wrist of the left hand of an almost 15-year-old plaintiff were blown off when a toy cannon was fired by him unintentionally. The cannon had been made by the boy as a part of a manual training project. Action by the injured plaintiff against the school district and the shop training teacher-defendant, William Gebhardt, was predicated upon the theory that the proximate cause of the accident was the teacher’s failure to warn plaintiff regarding the dangers involved in loading and firing the cannon.

Motions for a nonsuit and for a directed verdict were…