## Facts

- Avram Wisnia was an NYU undergraduate student and a resident of NYU’s Third Avenue North residence hall.
- Wisnia served as Secretary of the Third Avenue North Student Council (TASC), a student-run group responsible for planning and overseeing dormitory events.
- TASC organized a “Beach Bash” event on May 1, 2004, held in an NYU courtyard.
- Activities at the event included a DJ, a moon-bounce, volleyball, water guns and balloons, and Jell‑O wrestling in a kiddie pool set on a concrete surface.
- Wisnia participated in planning the event, including helping with logistics and advertising and supplying food.
- Before the event, Wisnia suggested placing gym mats beneath the kiddie pool as a safety precaution, but mats were not used.
- During the event, two other students grabbed Wisnia and pushed him into the Jell‑O-filled kiddie pool.
- Wisnia climbed out of the pool, removed a cell phone and wallet from his pocket, and then voluntarily began grappling or wrestling with another student near the kiddie pool.
- After several seconds, another student pushed Wisnia back into the kiddie pool.
- Wisnia suffered a hip injury from the second fall.
- Wisnia sued NYU for negligence, alleging NYU allowed and facilitated the event and failed to provide a safe environment for the activity.
- NYU moved for summary judgment under CPLR 3212 seeking dismissal of the complaint.

## Issues

1. Whether NYU could be held liable in negligence for a student’s injury occurring when, after an initial push into a kiddie pool during a dorm event, the student voluntarily engaged in wrestling/horseplay next to the pool on concrete and was pushed again.
2. Whether the obvious risk of falling while grappling near a kiddie pool on a hard courtyard surface—known to the plaintiff, an event organizer—barred recovery under New York’s assumption-of-risk doctrine.
3. Whether any act or omission by NYU was a proximate cause of the injury, or whether the injury resulted from the plaintiff’s voluntary conduct and the intervening actions of other students.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court, New York County (Edmead, J.), granted NYU’s motion for summary judgment.
- The court dismissed the complaint with costs and disbursements to NYU and directed the clerk to enter judgment accordingly.
- The court concluded that, as a matter of law, NYU was not liable for Wisnia’s injury given the circumstances of the horseplay and the plaintiff’s awareness of the risk.

## Legal Principles

- Summary judgment is granted when the movant shows entitlement to judgment as a matter of law and the record shows no triable issue of material fact (CPLR 3212).
- A landowner/institution must keep premises reasonably safe, but it is not an insurer against every injury occurring on its property.
- Under New York’s primary assumption-of-risk doctrine, a defendant generally has no duty to protect a voluntary participant from risks that are commonly associated with a recreational activity when the participant is aware of, appreciates, and voluntarily confronts those risks.
- A risk may be treated as obvious where the condition and activity make the danger apparent to a reasonable participant; an organizer/participant’s familiarity with the setup can support a finding that the risk was appreciated.
- Negligence liability also requires proof of proximate cause; where a plaintiff’s voluntary actions and the immediate conduct of other participants are the direct cause of the injury, the defendant’s connection to the injury may be too attenuated to support liability.

## Conclusion

In Avram Wisnia v. New York University, Docket No. 114439/2005 (2008), the court granted NYU summary judgment and dismissed a student’s negligence claim stemming from a hip injury at a dorm “Beach Bash” featuring Jell‑O wrestling in a kiddie pool on a concrete courtyard, reasoning that the plaintiff—who helped organize the event and knew the setup—voluntarily engaged in wrestling/horseplay near the pool after an initial push and therefore could not hold NYU liable for the resulting injury.
