## Facts

- Michael Dailey, a 16-year-old student at Gardena High School, died after suffering a fractured skull during the noon recess on May 12, 1965.
- After lunch, Michael and another student engaged in “slap boxing” outside the north side of the gym; they appeared friendly and initially exchanged no hard blows.
- Michael fell backward after being slapped and was fatally injured; he died a few hours later.
- The school had over 2,700 students on an approximately 55-acre campus; during lunch, students could access most of the grounds.
- A supervision plan assigned administrators and teachers to lunch and general grounds supervision; the physical education department was responsible for supervising the gym area.
- Plaintiffs presented evidence that the gym-area supervision was not actively performed and that a crowd of about 30 students formed during the slap boxing without adult intervention.
- Michael’s parents sued the district and two teachers for wrongful death based on alleged negligent failure to supervise.

## Issues

1. Whether, viewing plaintiffs’ evidence most favorably, the trial court properly granted a directed verdict because there was no substantial evidence from which a jury could find negligent supervision and proximate causation.

## Decision

- The California Supreme Court reversed the judgment entered on the directed verdict and remanded for further proceedings.
- The Court held plaintiffs presented sufficient evidence to allow reasonable jurors to find (1) negligent supervision and (2) causation; therefore, the case should not have been taken from the jury.
- The Court reiterated that, on a directed-verdict motion, the trial court may not weigh evidence or determine credibility.

## Legal Principles

- A directed verdict is proper only when, giving the opposing party’s evidence all legally permissible value and inferences, there is no substantial evidence that could support a verdict in that party’s favor.
- On a directed-verdict motion, the court must disregard conflicts, view the evidence favorably to the nonmoving party, and may not weigh evidence or resolve credibility disputes.
- School authorities and employees owe students a duty to exercise ordinary care in supervising students on school grounds, evaluated in light of the circumstances and the known propensities of adolescents.
- Negligence and proximate causation are ordinarily jury questions when reasonable minds could differ, including whether adequate supervision could have prevented student horseplay and resulting injury.

## Conclusion

Because plaintiffs’ evidence could support findings that the gym area was not meaningfully supervised and that active supervision could have prevented or stopped the slap boxing before the fatal injury, the directed verdict was improper and the matter had to be decided by a jury.


Dailey v. Los Angeles Unified Sch. Dist., 2 Cal. 3d 741 (Cal. 1970)