New York Negligent Supervision Lawsuits

If you’re taking care of a child, your role is to be present and paying attention.

"Negligent supervision" is a term used to frame a claim in which the person who causes an injury might not be able to be responsible for their own actions, like a child. 

There are two sides to a negligent supervision claim in New York personal injury lawsuits: 

First, you could be the victim injured by a child and you need to file a lawsuit against a parent or caregiver for negligently supervising the child, thereby allowing the accident to happen. 

Or, you might be the parent of a child who was injured at school, camp, under the supervision of a babysitter, or in some other circumstance where the responsible adult did not pay enough attention to prevent your own child from being hurt.

What is New York negligent supervision?

In New York State, negligent supervision claims often arise in contexts such as child care, schools, camps, and other situations where an entity or individual is responsible for the care and oversight of another person, typically a child.

Negligence in negligent supervision claims must be proven in the same way as in any other personal injury lawsuit. It must meet the elements of negligence:

1. Duty of care: The party responsible for supervision (such as a school, camp, or childcare provider) has a duty to exercise reasonable care in overseeing and protecting the individuals under their supervision. This duty is particularly stringent when supervising children.
2. Breach of duty: The responsible party failed to supervise the way a reasonably prudent person would under similar circumstances.
3. Causation: The lack of supervision directly caused the injury. 
4. Injury: The victim suffered physical injury, financial loss, or emotional distress caused by the negligent supervision. Being angry or feeling wronged are not causes of action for a lawsuit. 
5. Damages: The victim is entitled to compensation (money) for their financial losses that were directly caused by the breach of duty.

There’s also the issue of foreseeability. "Foreseeability" is the standard used to determine whether the average person would've known or anticipated the possibility of that particular accident happening. In other words, was the accident or injury a foreseeable consequence of a lack of supervision? If it was unforeseeable, the supervising person might not be held liable.

Examples of negligent supervision claims concerning children

A caregiver could be school, nannies or babysitters, coaches, after-school program supervision, or anyone entrusted with caring for your child. 

Any of these caregiver roles gives rise to a legal duty to supervise a child when the child’s parent or guardian arranges for it. Negligent supervision could be failure to watch the child closely enough, failure to provide a safe environment, ensure that playground equipment or toys are free from defects, or failure to be properly and adequately staffed and trained to supervise all children. 

However, that an accident happened while under someone’s care does not, in itself, give rise to a lawsuit for negligent supervision. 

If a child suffers an injury, the court would consider several factors to see if supervision was reasonable. For example, it would evaluate the child’s age, the type of activity they were doing when they got hurt, whether they had any disabilities or limitations known to the caretaker, and whether the injury was reasonably foreseeable. 

It’s also important to remember that negligence does not lead to a lawsuit unless there was an actual injury. 

For instance, this scenario: A parent arrives to pick up their 5-year-old child from their after-school program. A group of eight children are outside on the playground behind the school with no caregivers in sight. The caregiver had run into the building to take a phone call and there was no other adult on the playground with the children. 

Was the caregiver negligent? Yes.

It is absolutely foreseeable that a group of children that young left alone on a playground could lead to injury. But in this instance, the children were playing happily and no harm was done.

The parents might be (rightfully) angry at the lack of supervision. But the appropriate recourse in this instance would be to either speak with the director of the program to make sure it doesn’t happen again, or to switch the child to another caregiver. They might make a complaint to the state licensing board for that particular entity. 

However, if their child is unharmed, they can’t file a lawsuit just because they were angry at the lack of supervision.

Take a second scenario, though: Little Joey is playing on the playground. There is one climbing structure that is off-limits to kindergarteners because the bars and footholds are too far apart for such little children and there’s too high a risk of falls. But the caregiver—though outside with the children—was texting on her phone and didn’t notice that Joey had climbed to the top of the structure. So, when Joey fell and was seriously injured, the caregiver was negligent because they were not appropriately supervising the children. 

In that situation, there might be standing to file a lawsuit against the caregiver or program for negligence. The family can file a lawsuit to recover compensation for costs associated with Joey’s injuries.

What if you or your child are injured by another child?

Let’s turn the tables.

Your child is fine. But they injured someone else… can you be sued?

New York parental responsibility law

If a child is older than 10 but younger than 18, a parent might be held responsible for their actions under certain circumstances. 

The parent could be liable if the minor willfully or maliciously causes property damage, or commits vandalism or theft. In other words, if the damage is not an accident but was done with intent. 

Any person or entity that was damaged by wilful, malicious or unlawful actions of a minor could seek to recover compensation from the child’s parent or guardian. The exception to this rule is if the child left the home before the damage happened (in simple terms, a runaway). 

Even a parent who is properly supervising their child could be held liable for damages, but the court might lessen the judgment if that’s the case. 

Likewise, if a parent is negligent in supervising their child, they could face legal consequences for the child’s actions. For example, if a parent knows their teenager has a history of drunk driving or driving recklessly but they continue to give them driving privileges without restriction, they could be liable for negligent supervision if the teenager injures someone in a drunk or reckless driving accident. 

Every situation is nuanced, and no one wants to think about the possibility of harm to a child or a child injuring someone else—but both adults and kids make mistakes, have moments of poor judgment, are forgetful or distracted, or even act in a way that’s harmful with intent. 

If you’re involved in a dispute on either side that might involve parental liability or negligent supervision, understand that these cases are nuanced and complex. Your best bet is always to contact a New York personal injury lawyer for guidance.