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Keywords

lawsuittortnegligenceliabilitystatutetrialsummary judgment
torttrialmotionsummary judgmentwillregulationmotion for summary judgment

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P.V. ex rel. T.V. v. Camp Jaycee, 197 N.J. 132, 962 A.2d 453

Facts

In 2003, P.V., a 21-year-old female camper with Down syndrome, was sexually assaulted by another camper at Camp Jaycee, a summer camp located in Pennsylvania but operated by a New Jersey charity. P.V.'s parents, T.V. and L.V., filed a personal injury action in New Jersey against Camp Jaycee, alleging negligent supervision. The trial court granted summary judgment to Camp Jaycee based on New Jersey's Charitable Immunity Act, which protects charities from liability for negligence. The Appellate Division reversed this ruling, stating that Pennsylvania law, which does not provide such immunity, should govern the case.

In 2003, one of Camp Jaycee's campers was P.V., a twenty-one-year-old female from New Jersey with Down syndrome and mental and emotional handicaps.

Issue

Whether New Jersey's charitable immunity statute applies to a tort committed in Pennsylvania, or whether Pennsylvania law, which abrogates charitable immunity, should govern the case.

The trial judge granted Camp Jaycee's motion for summary judgment on the ground that, under the CIA, the camp is immune from suit by a beneficiary.

Rule

Under New Jersey's choice-of-law principles, the law of the state where the injury occurred is presumed to apply unless another state has a more significant relationship to the parties or issues involved.

Under that standard, the analysis in a personal injury case begins with the section 146 presumption that the local law of the state of the injury will apply.

Analysis

The court applied the Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws to determine that Pennsylvania had a more significant relationship to the case than New Jersey. Both the tortious conduct and the injury occurred in Pennsylvania, and the camp operated solely in that state. The court found that New Jersey's contacts were not sufficient to overcome the presumption that Pennsylvania law should apply, given that the injury and the conduct causing it were centered in Pennsylvania.

Examining the facts of this case as they relate to the contacts and principles articulated in the Second Restatement, we conclude that Pennsylvania, the state in which the charity chose to operate and which is the locus of the tortious conduct and injury, has at least as significant a relationship to the issues as New Jersey, and that the presumptive choice of Pennsylvania law therefore has not been overcome.

Conclusion

The Supreme Court affirmed the Appellate Division's judgment, ruling that Pennsylvania law applies to the case, allowing the lawsuit against Camp Jaycee to proceed.

We granted Camp Jaycee's petition for certification, 192 N.J. 295, 927 A. 2d 1293 (2007), and now affirm the judgment of the Appellate Division.

Who won?

The parents of P.V. prevailed in the case because the court determined that Pennsylvania law, which does not confer charitable immunity, should apply, allowing their lawsuit to move forward.

P.V. counters that Pennsylvania, the state in which Camp Jaycee chose to operate; in which the tortious conduct and injury occurred; and in which the relationship of the parties was centered, has at least as great if not a greater interest than New Jersey in the resolution of this matter because of its concerns over conduct-regulation and redress to tort victims.

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