1 of 2

A church may be legally responsible for injuries through failure to exercise adequate supervision of its programs and activities. It's also possible for a church to be responsible for injuries that occur on its premises while being used by an outside group, if it maintains "control" over those premises.

The following are two examples we can use to conclude whether a church would be responsible for injuries on or off its property:

1. A California court ruled that a school was responsible for an off-campus injury to a student who was shot by another student after he left an off-campus, school-sponsored event. The jury awarded the victim damages of $313,300 and attributed half of the fault to the school. The school appealed, claiming that it had no duty to protect a student from an injury that occurred off-campus. The appeals court upheld the verdict, concluding that a school has a legal duty to exercise reasonable care on campus to protect students from accident or injury off campus. The court cited two cases as examples of "on campus" negligence that resulted in an "off campus" injury.

In the first case, a teacher asked students to stay after school to help grade papers. By the time the students left campus, the crossing guard was no longer on duty at a dangerous intersection, and the students were hit by a car as they crossed the street. In the second case, a 10-year-old student was hit by a car after he left school premises without permission before classes ended for the day. The school was liable for his injuries because of negligent supervision.

Your Church Should Know: Churches are not necessarily liable for injuries that occur to members off of church property. They may be liable for injuries that occur during an off-campus, church-sponsored activity because of the church's negligent supervision of that activity. In addition, as this case illustrates, they may be liable for an injury that occurs off of church property and apart from a church-sponsored activity if the injury was caused by the church's negligence on its property or during a church-sponsored, off-campus activity. Castillo v. Bishop Garcia Diego High School, 2002 WL 244815 (Cal. App. 2002).

2. A charity permitted an outside group to use its facility for a Christmas party. During the party, a woman suffered serious injuries when she fell on a slippery floor. As a result of her injuries, the woman underwent surgery for a complete hip replacement. She later sued the charity, claiming the charity was responsible for her injuries because it had retained control over the premises during the party. She claimed that the floor was unreasonably slippery, and this dangerous condition caused her to fall.

The court acknowledged that a property owner may be legally responsible for injuries that occur on its premises when they are under its custody or control. The court suggested that the charity had retained control over its premises during the Christmas party for the following reasons:

1. The charity was responsible for setting up tables for the party;
   
   

next page... |  1 of 2

share this page