A Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court recently ruled that a Torah-based educational institution and its insurance company must pay more than half a million shekels to a former student who was injured during a school trip after jumping on a trampoline at a guesthouse complex. The total compensation, including legal fees and court costs, comes to about 600,000 shekels ($184,000).
The accident happened about seven years ago, when the student was 14 and staying overnight with his class at a vacation cabin site in northern Israel, accompanied by school staff. The trip included an evening activity and a night at the guesthouse complex. During the stay, the boy was hurt while playing on a trampoline with friends.
According to the ruling, when the students arrived they discovered the site was undergoing renovations, something the school team had not been told before reaching the area.
The student, represented by attorney David Winter, a partner at the Ron-Festinginger law firm, said he was playing on the trampoline at the site when he fell or was pushed off. He was barefoot and landed on a sharp aluminum profile lying on the grass nearby, suffering a deep cut to his foot. He was evacuated to a hospital and underwent surgery.
The school argued that its management relied on the guesthouse owner’s representation that the cabins were suitable for students and assumed there were no hazards on the premises. It also said the trip was coordinated with the Education Ministry’s control room and approved. According to the school, responsibility for the incident rested entirely with the guesthouse owners. The school further claimed it was impossible for the boy to have fallen onto a metal profile near the fence without noticing it beforehand.
Judge Haim Pas accepted the former student’s account of the circumstances. He ruled that allowing students to play on the trampoline after it had been placed to cover renovation materials amounted to a clear breach of duty of care.
The court ultimately set liability at 50 percent for the educational institution and 50 percent for the guesthouse owners, against whom a partial judgment had already been issued.
The defendants sought to assign the former student 100 percent contributory negligence. The judge rejected that, writing that while trampoline jumping carries some risk, it is no more dangerous than other children’s games and does not justify placing full blame on the student. He noted that teachers on site approved the students’ entry despite the renovations and allowed them to use the trampoline even though it was also covered with construction materials.
Pas assigned the former student 10 percent contributory negligence because he was aware of the renovations and still chose to play on the trampoline without shoes.
Medical experts set the student’s medical disability at about 15 percent and his functional disability at 10 percent. The court calculated damages that included future loss of earnings, compensation for pain and suffering, and past medical expenses.
After deducting contributory negligence, the court awarded about 540,000 shekels ($165,000) plus attorney fees and legal costs, for a total of roughly 600,000 shekels. The court allowed publication of the ruling without naming the school or identifying the plaintiff.