Negligent Supervision

Negligent supervision claims are lawsuits filed by parents whose children were injured when a teacher or school staff member failed to provide adequate supervision.  These claims can be filed when a child is injured due to their own behavior, or when another child engages in risky behavior and the teacher is not available to intervene.

Negligent supervision claims, like any claim against a city or municipality in New York, are subject to a statute of limitations that provides a short time frame to file a claim.  If your child was injured at school and you are interested in filing a claim on their behalf, you should speak with an experienced personal injury attorney as soon as possible to make sure you do not miss the deadline to file your claim.

Negligent Supervision in Schools Can Cause Injuries

A parent entrusts teachers and school staff with the care and supervision of children.  This means we expect teachers to supervise our children to ensure that they are not hurt, and to also supervise other children and prevent them from hurting their classmates.

Teachers and school support staff are legally obligated to refrain from leaving children unattended.  If a teacher left your child unattended in a classroom or other school location, your child could potentially be hurt as a result.

Negligent supervision claims cover many different types of scenarios.  One type of claim is that your child injured themselves due to a lack of supervision.  Children are naturally curious and often try to climb on, jump on, climb into, and ingest things that they should not.

It is a teacher’s duty to protect children, especially young children, from these behaviors.  A different type of negligent supervision claim is one against a school when negligent supervision causes another classmate to injure your child.

This can be the result of physical violence, thrown objects, or other behavior that should have been rectified by an attentive teacher.  If your child’s injury was the result of negligent supervision, it does not matter whether the child inflicted the injury themselves or whether a classmate hurt them.

Complications When Suing a Public School

When a private citizen in New York seeks to file a claim against a municipality or school district, there are certain laws that complicate the process and limit the lawsuit.  One of the noteworthy laws is called a statute of limitations.

A statute of limitations sets a time frame for the plaintiff to give notice of their claim to the defendant, who, in this case, would be a municipal school system.  When the defendant is a municipality or city agency, there is an even smaller window for the plaintiff to file their claim.

Attorneys for Negligent Supervision Claims

If your child was hurt at school, you should contact an attorney right away.  You may be able to file a claim against your child’s school for the pain and suffering that was inflicted on your child.  The personal injury attorneys with Duffy & Duffy understand the complexities of personal injury law and negligent supervision lawsuits.