Acosta

*474 Opinion

Section 831.7 of the Government Code immunizes a public entity from liability for injuries resulting from participation in a “hazardous recreational activity.” The issue before us is whether this immunity applies in a suit against a school district by a high school gymnast seriously injured while practicing under the supervision of his coach in the school gymnasium after school, during the off-season. We hold the immunity does not apply under these circumstances.

Facts and Proceedings Below

Omar Acosta was a member of the Hamilton High School gymnastics team. One night during the off-season, Omar was working out in the Hamilton gym under the supervision of assistant gymnastics coach Louis Thomas. He was practicing a new maneuver on the high bar called the front catch in which the gymnast swings forward and, at the top of his arc, lets go of the bar, performs a somersault and catches the bar on the way down. While practicing this maneuver Omar missed catching the bar, fell and landed on his neck. He was rendered quadriplegic. 1 By special verdict, a jury found coach Thomas was negligent in supervising Omar’s practice and this negligence was a substantial factor in…

Dissenting. — It is comprehendible how the tragic but “freak” accident in this instance has led the majority to stretch to conclude as a matter of law that Government Code section 831.7 yields no liability *481 immunity to the school district in this case. Most certainly, resultant quadriplegia and eventual death to this young high school gymnast would evoke sympathy in anyone but the completely insensitive. Remembering, however, the seasoned precaution that “hard facts make bad law,” I am constrained to observe that the interpretation given to Government Code section 831.7 by the majority, depriving the school district of liability immunity as a matter of law, in this case of first impression, is oversimplified, does not fully “track” the facts of this case, and erroneously deprives the school district of a trial on the factual dispute of whether the activities of the plaintiff were school sponsored.

In my view, the reasoning of the trial judge in granting a motion for new trial limited, among other specifically defined issues, to a determination of whether the plaintiff’s activities were school sponsored 1 is sound. The trial judge recognized a dichotomy which is seriously…

Section 831.7 of the Government Code immunizes a public entity from liability for injuries resulting from participation in a "hazardous recreational activity." The issue before us is whether this immunity applies in a suit against a school district by a high school gymnast seriously injured while practicing under the supervision of his coach in the school gymnasium after school, during the off-season. We hold the immunity does not apply under these circumstances.

Omar Acosta was a member of the Hamilton High School gymnastics team. One night during the off-season, Omar was working out in the Hamilton gym under the supervision of assistant gymnastics coach Louis Thomas. He was practicing a new maneuver on the high bar called the front catch in which the gymnast swings forward and, at the top of his arc, lets go of the bar, performs a somersault and catches the bar on the way down. While practicing this maneuver Omar missed catching the bar, fell and landed on his neck. He was rendered quadriplegic. [1] By special verdict, a jury found coach Thomas was negligent in supervising Omar's practice and this negligence was a substantial factor in bringing about…