Pennsylvania Negligent Supervision Lawsuits

Children need to explore, but the adult needs to know their limits and capabilities.

Most people who have children need to leave them in the care of other adult supervision from time to time—whether it’s a babysitter, relative, school, childcare, summer camp, or a friend. Most parents can’t be with their children 24/7 (and if you are… wow… you need a break!).

You might be grateful for a little reprieve; raising young children is hard work. But you also make a leap of faith when you leave your child in someone else’s care. Hopefully, your trusted village will care for your child as diligently as you would. But accidents happen, sadly. If they do, a parent might wonder what the recourse is if a child is injured because of someone’s negligent supervision.

Negligent supervision isn’t just about children, though. There are also situations of negligent supervision in the workplace, in nursing homes, and in other places where a person requires another person’s care and responsibility. We’ll take a look below at some of these scenarios.

What is Pennsylvania negligent supervision?

Negligent supervision refers to a legal claim that arises when someone in charge of a child, such as a parent, teacher, employer, or caregiver, fails to reasonably monitor or control the actions of others (including the child), resulting in injury or harm.

Key elements of a Pennsylvania negligent supervision lawsuit

1. Duty of care
   
   This refers to the person responsible for the supervision or well-being of the child. It could be a person, like a babysitter or grandparent, or it could be an entity like a school or summer camp.
2. Breach of duty
   
   If the responsible party fails to exercise reasonable care in supervising the child or children because of inattention, lack of proper oversight, or failure to take reasonable precautions, they could be breaching their duty.
3. Causation.
   
   The breach must have been the direct cause of or a substantial factor in causing the injury.
4. Damages
   
   The crux of personal injury law is to make a victim financially whole. In other words, it’s to restore a person to the financial position they would be in if the accident had never happened. It also means that the injury must have cost the plaintiff money. If your child fell off the monkey bars and got a skinned knee, you might be upset and angry but if the “treatment” is a bandaid and a kiss, it didn’t cost you money and does not warrant a lawsuit.
   
   If the child got a head injury and required an ambulance transport, hospital stay, diagnostics like a CT scan or MRI, or has long-term disabilities as a result, then the medical costs and related expenses should be compensable.

Examples of negligent supervision in Pennsylvania

• Child care or school. For example, if a child drowns in a pool while at summer camp because staff members are not watching them, the camp could be held responsible. Similarly, if a child is injured on the playground during recess at school because the playground aides were on their phones and therefore didn’t tell the children not to climb too high, the school could be liable. The school could also be liable if bullying results in injury if the school was aware of the bullying but failed to take action. You can read more here.
  
  These are just a few examples of negligent supervision that could lead to injuries:
  
  
  • Access to weapons
  • Child disappearance 
  • Ingestion of drugs, chemicals, or known allergens
  • Traffic accidents
  • Vandalism or fires
• Workplace. An employer might be liable for negligent supervision if an employee causes harm to others due to a lack of proper training or oversight. For example, if a construction worker is injured because their supervisor did not enforce safety protocols, the employer could be responsible.
• Nursing homes. If a resident in a nursing home is injured because staff members failed to properly monitor or assist them, such as in cases where a resident falls or is assaulted by another resident, the facility might be held liable for negligent supervision.

Negligent supervision claims are typically part of broader personal injury or liability lawsuits. The standard of care required can vary depending on the relationship between the parties and the specific circumstances of the case. In many cases, establishing negligence involves proving that the responsible party failed to act as a reasonable person would have under similar circumstances.

In Pennsylvania, like many other states, negligent supervision is a recognized legal claim, and those who suffer harm due to another's lack of proper supervision may be entitled to compensation for their injuries and related losses.

If your child was injured—or an adult was injured in a care situation like a nursing home or in the workplace—and you believe it was caused by someone’s negligent supervision, you can contact a Pennsylvania personal injury lawyer for further guidance.