Rue Ziffra, PA

Negligent supervision occurs when a care giver intentionally fails to exercise reasonable care and caution while fulfilling their supervisory duties. In other words, an individual is negligent when they either do something they are not supposed to do or refrain from doing something they should do while caring for or supervising others.

Under negligent supervision law, a person conducting an activity over other individuals, (such as providing supervision or care) is subject to liability for harm if their conduct is negligent or reckless.

This negligence can stem from proactive negligent conduct such as a situation where an employer hires an improper person for supervisory duties, or failing to prevent negligent conduct from happening such as in a situation where a parent knows of a caregiver’s misconduct and does not refrain from subjecting their child to it.

In both of these cases, a negligence lawyer can often help a victim of negligent supervision find and prove reckless care was given.

Circumstances resulting in negligent supervision are not all alike. Although there can be many types of negligent supervision, some common categories are listed below:

• Employment - This can include types of negligent supervision that occur within a work environment. This type of negligence results in direct harm to an employee, such as being victimized to violence or harassment.
  • Occurs when an employer does not provide enough supervision
  • Occurs when an employer hires a negligent supervisor
• Supervision of Minors- This can include types of negligent supervision that occur when an individual is supervising or caring for minors.
  • Occurs when children are directly harmed from negligence on behalf of a service provider
• Supervision of Guests- This can include types of negligent supervision that occur when an individual is supervising or caring for guests, family or friends.
  • Occurs when an individual is harmed under nursing home care or other supervised care

Since cases, circumstances and injuries are all different, proving negligent supervision can also take on different forms. Although a victim must prove the basics of negligence as stated above, in some instances this type of injury may be scrutinized based on whether or not an outside, reasonable person could have foreseen these types of injuries happening under the same circumstances. In other words, even if an individual is found to be negligent, if it is concluded that a reasonable person could have foreseen a negligent outcome if the same situation happened again, then some of the negligence could be attributed to the victim or person subjecting the victim to the negligence (the negligence is split between multiple parties).

When it comes to negligent supervision, there are very particular laws governing how victims of this type of misconduct are to be protected and compensated for injuries under insurance.

Liability Insurance

As long as negligence has been proven and there is a direct link between one party’s negligence and the victim’s injuries, the victim is entitled to insurance benefits under the negligent party’s liability insurance.

To establish liability for negligent supervision, it must be determined exactly who was negligent. For example, an employer has a duty to conduct a background investigation on persons considered for a job in which they will be supervising, monitoring, or are otherwise put in charge of employees. If the employer neglects this investigation or conducts it in a less than diligent and reasonable manner, they may be on the hook for negligent hiring when and if an employee (or the supervisor) commits a wrongful intentional act such as sexual abuse.

Liability becomes even more apparent when the person charged with the employee’s care had either constructive or express knowledge of the wrongdoer’s propensity to engage in some intentional misconduct.

Homeowner’s Insurance
Typically, homeowner’s insurance policies will NOT protect a victim of negligent supervision. This is because a homeowner’s policy often includes a provision that denies coverage for bodily injury intentionally caused by an individual.

Since Florida courts have reasoned that a person who sexually molests a child can not intend to do anything other than harm and long-term emotional anguish to their victim, acts of sexual molestation are considered intentional acts as that term is used in insurance policies. Accordingly, Florida courts have consistently denied insurance coverage for intentional sexual acts on children.

For purposes of insurance coverage in negligent supervision cases, each act of intentional misconduct under another individual’s care or supervision (such as sexual molestation, physical abuse and wrongful death ) is a separate offense covered by the insured’s policy limits.

For example, in a claim for negligent supervision in a sexual molestation case where a policy with a $100,000.00 per offense ceiling applies, negligence in the supervision of a child accompanied by five acts of sexual misconduct may entitle the victim to a total of $500,000.00 in coverage.

Negligent supervision can result in tragic situations where an individual can be hurt physically, emotionally or mentally. When this happens, it can become difficult for the victim or their family to deal with all of the legal and medical processes that go into pursuing a case against the negligent party. Therefore, it may be beneficial for a victim or their family to hire a negligent supervision lawyer who can guide them through these processes.

The personal injury attorneys knowledgeable in negligent supervision law at Rue & Ziffra, P.A., are here to assist a victim or their family through these troubling times. They have the ability to investigate the facts behind each case to determine whether there was any wrongdoing and who committed it.  

Rue & Ziffra, P.A. proudly serves areas throughout central Florida in Volusia County and Flagler County.