Baldwin v. Church of God of Trenton

Citations

• 2024 Ohio 1726

Syllabus

If tortious supervision of a child engaged in a recreational activity that involves inherent risks is alleged, the plaintiff must show that the defendant intentionally or recklessly failed to provide appropriate supervision. Swimming is a recreational activity that involves the inherent risk of drowning. A child who voluntarily participates in this activity assumes the risk of drowning. A supervisor of a child who is swimming in a pool has no duty to decrease the inherent risk of drowning the supervisor has only to avoid intentionally or recklessly increasing the risk. A supervisor of a child who is swimming in a pool does not consciously disregard a substantial and unjustifiable risk that a child will drown by not acting to decrease the inherent risk of drowning, where the supervisor did not know or have reason to know that there was an unreasonable risk of a serious danger that had a strong probability of causing harm. WITH Dissenting Opinion.