Perez v. City of New York

Plaintiffs seek a new trial on the issue of liability and the defendant Board of Education demands *556dismissal of the complaint by virtue of a jury’s initial special verdict that the six-year-old infant plaintiff had been scalded because of the board’s negligence and through her own contributory fault. On reconsideration, a second special verdict again found the board negligent but this time the jury disagreed as to contributory negligence, voting 7 to 5 in favor of the child as to that defense.

The reason for the jury’s reconsideration was counsel’s dissatisfaction with a pro forma instruction…