Can My Child’s School Be Liable for My Child’s Injuries for Lack of Supervision?

When you drop off your child at school, you expect them to receive proper care and protection, just like you would provide at home. Unfortunately, some institutions don’t always exercise care in the supervision of children. According to New York laws, you can hold your child’s school liable for the injuries your child sustains while under the institution’s care.

Skilled Manhattan personal injury lawyers can guide you in filing a lawsuit based on the theory of negligent supervision. Negligent supervision laws govern the liability of adults who fail to exercise care when monitoring children.

Defining Negligent Supervision

Parents whose children were injured when a teacher or school staff member fails to provide adequate care and supervision can file negligent supervision claims. Teachers or staff members can be liable if they:

  • Know or have a reason to know that a child needs protection, care, and control
  • Failed to supervise, control, or protect the child properly

The duty of care a school owes is derived from the fact that a school effectively takes over the role of a parent or guardian once it assumes physical custody and control over a child. This concept is called in loco parentis which is a Latin expression which means that the school stands in the place of the parent. The expectation is for schools to supervise students in their charge adequately. So, they should be held liable for foreseeable injuries resulting from inadequate or negligent supervision.

How Can I Prove Negligent Supervision?

Proving negligent supervision can be complex, and as with other cases of negligence among organizations, several factors come into play in proving the claim. Several laws determine whether negligence occurred. In cases involving injuries caused by acts of other students, it’s crucial to establish that school authorities had specific knowledge or notice of the dangerous behavior.

Experienced Manhattan school accident lawyers can help you prove that the school’s inadequate supervision was the proximate cause of your child’s injuries. The question of the adequacy of the school’s supervision of the students is usually left to the courts to solve.

New York courts don’t dismiss cases on the claim that a teacher or staff member responsible for the supervision of the students didn’t witness the activities that led to the injuries. If the defendant uses this claim as their defense, your school accident lawyer in Manhattan can fight to show why they should be held liable for your child’s damages.

Elements Necessary in Proving Negligence in Your Child’s Supervision

Like other negligence claims, your personal injury attorneys in Manhattan must prove the following four elements to help you obtain compensation:

  • Duty of care: There must be a sense of accepted responsibility for the child’s actions. The liable person must have knowledge that they’re in charge of protecting the child and preventing them from harming others.
  • Breach of duty: Your lawyers must show that the liable party failed to give proper attention and supervision to the child as required.
  • Causation: A relationship between the defendant’s actions and the accident must exist. The accident was foreseeable, and the defendant should have taken action to prevent the resulting harm.
  • Injury or harm: Your child’s physical injury or emotional harm should not be difficult to establish. However, your lawyer should show that the accident resulting from the defendant’s negligence is responsible for the injuries.

What Are Some Poor Conditions and Lack of Supervision Resulting in Child Injuries

Throughout New York, children sustain injuries at school every day. Some ways in which accidents and injuries happen in a school setting are the following:

  • Negligence on the part of the janitorial, maintenance team, or school staff, causing unsafe conditions on the school premises
  • Not providing adequate supervision and failure to use reasonable care for a child’s safety.
  • Poor maintenance of buildings
  • Allowing a child to use items unsuitable for their age, such as machinery or equipment.
  • Failure to secure dangerous items such as chemicals, poisonous substances, or weapons
  • Unsafe conditions on the school playground
  • Failure to protect the child from physical or emotional harm from another child, animal, or other known threat
  • Improper care of a sick or injured child
  • Incompetence on the part of the teachers
  • Food poisoning at the school’s cafeteria
  • Failure to ensure adequate security

Depending on the child’s age and what happened, these circumstances could be subjective. However, if you believe you have a solid negligent supervision claim, experienced Manhattan school accident attorneys can help put your case together.

They can put their skills to work to prove that your child sustained injuries due to one of these situations or inadequate supervision from the school staff. An attorney can fight aggressively to help you obtain total compensation for the harm and losses your child suffered.

Who is Liable for Negligent Supervision Claims?

You can raise a negligent supervision claim in any setting, depending on who was watching the child when an accident happened or when the child caused harm. Therefore, the following parties can be held liable in a negligent supervision case:

  • Teachers
  • Daycare workers
  • School officials
  • Nannies
  • Babysitters
  • Camp counselors
  • Parents
  • Coaches
  • Church leaders
  • Any employee responsible for the care and supervision of children

The list of people who can be held liable for negligent supervision is broad. Anyone tasked with taking care of minors could face civil liability for any harm caused to or experienced by a child. The principle of Respondeat Superior kicks in when an employer is to be held responsible for an employee’s negligence.

Seek Legal Help to Prove Your Negligent Supervision Case

If your child was hurt at school, you can file a claim against the school for the injuries alongside the pain and suffering your child had to endure. Contact skilled school accident lawyers in Manhattan to investigate the case and help you fight for the total compensation your child deserves for the damages.

Our personal injury lawyers in Manhattan provide legal counsel and representation for clients with personal injury claims. We understand the complexities of personal injury law and negligent supervision lawsuits and can aggressively fight for your rights. Call Mark E. Seitelman Law Offices at 212-962-2649 for a FREE case assessment.`