“Negligent Supervision” holds a person or party responsible when someone they were required to supervise causes you harm. Under California personal injury law, a parent can be liable for the action of a child and an employer can be accountable for the harmful actions of any employee.
Individuals, property owners, and business owners all owe you a “duty of care” to provide for your safety. They can fail in that duty when they improperly supervise or monitor someone in their care. You may be injured by the actions of someone in their charge and rightfully hold the person directly causing your injury and the person who failed to supervise him or her liable.
Negligent Supervision by California Employers
Employers may neglect their duties as a supervisor and allow employees to take actions that harm a visitor, customer, or another employee. Employers have a legal duty to supervise their employees to give customers and clients a safe visit when they enter any place of business.
Managers may allow a worker to handle a job they aren’t properly trained for or don’t have the capacity to handle. Perhaps they knew an unsafe worker shouldn’t be left alone for long periods or allowed to make decisions. This negligent supervision makes the business owner or a company or corporation liable if you were to be injured by the incompetence of an employee.
Proving Negligent Supervision in California Personal Injury Cases
Proving negligent supervision can also involve proving the defendant had foreknowledge of the threat or should have reasonably been able to foresee the danger. Did an employer get warnings about the potential harmful conduct of an employee?
A business owner or proprietor can be guilty of negligent hiring when they employ someone who had red flags raised on background checks or through information passed along from previous employers. When employers find out about these warning signs after they’ve hired someone and still don’t take action, they can be held liable through negligent retention of the employee.
If they reasonably should have known an employee posed a risk to visitors, customers, and other employers, and didn’t take action to fire the worker, the employer can be held accountable.
Negligent Supervision for Parents and Children
Parents or guardians have a legal duty to protect others from the harmful actions of their children. In order to demonstrate negligent supervision, parents must know a child posed a potential risk. The child must also act intentionally to cause injury or property damage for parents to bear liability.
Cases of negligent supervision of a child can include handing over the keys to a car to a minor unfit to drive. In certain cases, parents can be held accountable for the harm a child causes at school to classmates or school employees. Young children aren’t considered mature enough to be able to know when their conduct could hurt someone. It’s up to parents to take reasonable steps to make sure their children don’t have the freedom to make dangerous decisions.
In some cases, children may be injured by the negligence of someone who was legally responsible for supervising them. Schools and daycares owe children a special duty of care because they’ve been entrusted with the wellbeing of the student. School systems can be held liable when their inaction allows a child to be hurt.
Contact a Personal Injury Lawyer Serving California Victims
If you or a loved one, perhaps a child, are injured through the negligence of someone else, you need to consider filing a claim for damages. This civil claim can require an at-fault party to provide support to you as you heal, but it can also hold those who could have taken action to prevent an accident accountable as well.
Attorney Martin Gasparian seeks to protect the victims of negligence and makes sure they have everything they need to complete a successful physical and financial recovery. If you have been hurt by the negligence or wrongdoing of others, contact Maison Law for a free case consultation to find out about every benefit available to you and your family.
