Tag Archives: Negligent Entrustment

FAQS About Negligent Supervision Personal Injury Cases

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Any party who is required to provide a legal standard of care for a dependent or subordinate, such as a child, elderly person, or employee, must uphold their duty of care. Otherwise, they may face serious civil consequences. This legal principal falls under the category of negligent supervision, within personal injury law.

Continue reading to review some frequently asked questions about negligent supervision and how it pertains to tort law.

Personal Injury Lawyers Indianapolis Indiana 317-881-2700
Personal Injury Lawyers Indianapolis Indiana 317-881-2700

Frequently Asked Questions About Negligent Supervision

What is Negligent Supervision?

Personal injury cases arise when one party’s negligent action or inaction is the responsible cause another party’s injury and subsequent losses. When a mandated caregiver provides inadequate supervision or management over their charge, and as a result their charge is seriously injured, they could face a negligent supervision lawsuit. This tort law also applies to employers and employees. If an employer does not take the proper steps or precautions to ensure safety standards at the workplace, and as a result, an employee or customer is injured, they can be held liable for all damages resulting from the accident, subject to worker compensation law limits.

Who is Protected Under Negligent Supervision Laws?

Most negligent supervision cases surround children, elderly persons, and employees. They can also involve anyone else in long-term medical care, whether in-home or at a facility. Children who are under the care of daycare staff, school bus drivers, teachers, coaches, instructors, nannies, babysitters, and any other authority in charge of looking after their safety and well-being can become victims of negligent supervision.

Elderly individuals and those who suffer from severe mental or physical challenges are also common victims of negligent supervision. These victims are generally in a long-term care or treatment facility, or in the care of an at-home nurse or orderly.

Employers can also be guilty of negligently supervising their staffs. Employers are responsible for ensuring that their staff is properly adhering to all company policies, regulations, and safety standards. They must also ensure that they themselves are avoiding harmful or wrongful behaviors, plus preventing any wrongful actions of their employees.

What are Some Examples of Negligent Supervision?

A nanny is hungover from the night before and falls asleep on the couch. As a result, the child in their care wanders outside and gets hit by a car.

Parents allow their teenagers and friends to consume alcohol under their roof. As a result, a kid gets alcohol poisoning or into a serious car accident after they leave.

A daycare attendant fails to lock up a toxic cleaning solution as protocol requires. As a result, a child ingests the chemicals and suffers serious or fatal injuries.

A teacher heading detention leaves the classroom for a period of time without having another teacher cover for them. As a result, a fight occurs among students that causes serious injury to another student or teacher.

High school or college coach turns a blind eye to locker room hazing, and as a result, a teammate gets seriously injured or killed.

How Do I Prove That a Party is Guilty of Negligent Supervision?

There are 4 key elements that must be present for a valid negligent supervision case. First, the individual must have had a duty of care to supervise the victim. Second, the individual must have failed to properly supervise the victim. Third, the individual’s failure to supervise led to the victim’s harm. And fourth, the incident that caused harm to the victim must have been a foreseeable event might happen that any reasonable person could anticipate and prevent with proper supervision.

Where Can I Get Trusted Guidance for a Negligent Supervision Claim?

Cases vary in detail and jurisdiction, so it is important to discuss your state’s particular laws and procedures for negligent supervision with a seasoned Indianapolis personal injury lawyer. They can determine your case’s strength and help you pursue legal action against them by filing a claim or lawsuit.  If a judgement or settlement occurs, the defendant’s liability insurance carrier would have to pay it, subject to any insurance limits.

Are you ready to get in touch with a trusted negligent supervision lawyer who can help you get started on the right path toward financial justice? Contact the Law Office of Craven, Hoover, and Blazek P.C. at 317-881-2700 to schedule a free initial consultation with an experienced personal injury attorney in Indianapolis, Indiana.  We represent victims all throughout the state of Indiana and Indiana residents injured in other states.

Related Posts:

Are Schools Liable for Playground Injuries to Children?
Common Examples of Negligent Supervision of Employees
Do You Suspect Neglect at Your Loved One’s Nursing Home?
Who’s Liable for a Drowning Accident in a Private Swimming Pool?

Examples of Vicarious Liability in a Personal Injury Claim

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In simplest terms, vicarious liability is when one party is held legally accountable for another party’s negligent or unlawful actions.

Although the first party is legally responsible, the law holds the secondary party accountable as well. Vicarious liability, also referred to as principle’s liability or imputed negligence, comes to play in situations where a person or corporation is supposed to be responsible for another person or thing but acts negligently instead.

Continue reading for more examples of this type of legal liability, plus who to contact in Indiana for skilled car accident or personal injury representation that will protect your rights to being fully compensated.

Vicarious Liability Lawyers Indianapolis Indiana 317-881-2700
Vicarious Liability Lawyers Indianapolis Indiana 317-881-2700

Vicarious Liability  

To best understand how vicarious obligation works, it is good to review some generic cases in which it would come into play. For example, if an employer retains a staff of employees that act negligently while working for the company (i.e. sexual harassment, discrimination, driving a company vehicle, etc.), the employer can be held accountable for the resulting damages in a court of law.

Victims of this negligent behavior can file a lawsuit to pursue compensation for pain, suffering, and more from the employer, as well as the individual guilty employees. Employers in this situation are considered responsible because they have the duty to prevent and be aware of negligence in the workplace. By law, they should have stopped or prevented harmful behavior on the job.  In addition, employers are generally liable under law for any negligent acts performed by their employees anywhere while they are in the course and scope of their employment.

Car Accident Vicarious Liability and Negligent Entrustment

Driving another person’s car can also involve vicarious liability. A child that drives and wrecks their parent’s vehicle, causing serious injury or death to another driver, may put their parents in legal tribulation. Parents, or guardians, have the responsibility to properly instruct their adolescent how to drive safely, and only loan their vehicle during appropriate times. So, if a parent entrusts their minor to drive their vehicle, and an accident occurs, the parent (or person) who signed the minor’s driving application, is held responsible for the damages. In such cases, the insurance carrier for the parents would also be involved.

The law deems a parent or guardian, also known as an entruster, negligent if they allow their teen to drive a vehicle in their name knowing that their child is reckless, untrustworthy, inadequate at driving, or unlicensed. If a child falls under any of these descriptions, and subsequently causes a serious accident, the guardians or guardians can be held accountable for the damages under the principle of negligent entrustment.

Are you looking for skilled personal injury law firm to represent you in your negligence case in Indiana? Contact the Law Office of Craven, Hoover, and Blazek P.C. at 317-881-2700 to schedule a free consultation with our personal injury attorneys in Indianapolis, Indiana. We also represent injured victims all across the state.

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Can I Be Sued for Someone Else’s Reckless Driving?

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If you let someone else drive your car, whether it be your teenager, your boyfriend, or your best friend, there is a change you could be held liable in the case that their negligent or careless driving causes someone else harm. Continue below to learn more about this type of liability, and what you can do if you were injured as a result of another’s driving negligence.

Indianapolis IN Auto Accident Attorneys 317-881-2700
Indianapolis IN Auto Accident Attorneys 317-881-2700

Vicarious Liability and Car Accidents

When it comes to liability and personal injury compensation, the primary element of every case is to determine who is at fault for the car accident. In doing so, it is possible for more than one person to be responsible, such as the case of letting someone else drive your legally-owned and registered vehicle. Even if you are not in the car nor at the scene of the accident, you could be held legally responsible for all damages incurred by the car accident victims if someone wrecks your car while driving it with your permission.

The relationship between you and the driver must be a certain type, however, in order for you to be liable as the vehicle owner. Such relationships include parent and child, employer and employee, and similar types of connections. This is known as vicarious liability, which is also referred to as imputed negligence. There is another area of law that applies in the case of loaning your vehicle to someone who you know is incompetent, called negligent entrustment.

For example, let’s say you loan your car to your best friend because hers is in the shop for the week. She goes on to drive your car intoxicated and causes a serious car accident, injuring other drivers and their passengers. Because you are the car owner, and you allowed them to operate your vehicle, it could be you that winds up a defendant in court, and accused of being liable for all damages and losses of the victims.

Parents and Teens

There are few relevant laws for parents who let their teenagers drive their vehicles. Negligent entrustment is a legal theory and applied law that holds parents or guardians responsible for all damages caused by their child’s negligent driving. This is often used in cases in which teens are unlicensed or inexperienced. Then, there is the Family Purpose Doctrine, which holds you, the car owner, liable for any damages caused to other drivers if a family member drives your car. This liability applies whether you give your relative permission or not.

Employers and Staff

In the case of driving a company car, the employer is legally responsible for their employee’s driving while they are performing work-related duties. If the employee drives negligently and causes a car accident, the employer will be the one who is liable for all damages incurred by the car accident victims, including property and personal injury damages.

Negligent Entrustment

If you were to loan your vehicle to someone who you know is irresponsible, negligent, reckless, unlicensed, intoxicated, a substance abuser, too elderly, ill, or otherwise unfit to drive a car, you would be legally responsible for any damages they cause while driving your car under negligent entrustment laws. This applies to both family members and non-relatives.

Are you an Indiana car accident survivor looking to be compensated for your damages and suffering? Contact the Law Office of Craven, Hoover, and Blazek P.C. at 317-881-2700 to schedule a free case evaluation with an experienced Indianapolis car accident lawyer. We represent clients throughout the State of Indiana.

You Should Also Read:

What to Do if You are in a Company Car Accident
Facts About Vicarious Liability Lawsuits
Can I Sue Lyft or Uber for Getting into a Car Accident?

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Are You Responsible if Another Person Drives Your Car and Causes an Accident?

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Car Accident Lawyers 317-881-2700

Car Accident Lawyers 317-881-2700

The primary dispute after a car collision is determining who was at fault, namely, who is liable for the damages and losses suffered by those involved in the accident. In most cases, the person who was reckless or negligent is the at-fault party, however, cases can be more complicated than that. Sometimes, a manufacturer defect in a vehicle, stoplight, or some other commodity can be to blame. But regardless, there is always someone, either person or entity, blameworthiness.

If it is not an entity or company of some sort, it is usually pegged on the negligent driver. But what if someone else was driving your car? Would you be responsible for any damages they inflict on another if they were to be involved in a car accident? Continue reading to learn the various scenarios of liability.

Vicarious Liability

Accident Attorneys 317-881-2700

Car Accident Attorneys 317-881-2700

In the case that another person drives your vehicle and causes an accident, you could be held responsible for the financial damages and losses incurred to the victims involved. You could be sued for negligence even if you weren’t in the vehicle at all. To better understand this duty of care, you must understand vicarious liability.

Vicarious liability is a form of imputed negligence that results when two parties have a relationship, such as parent-child, employer-employee, teacher-student, and so forth. In such relationships, one person’s actions can actually be another person’s legal responsibility. In the case that you loan your vehicle to someone within such a relationship, you could face consequences for their actions under Vicarious Liability Law.

Kids Driving Parents Car

If you are a parent that allows your child to drive your vehicle, keep in mind that you are the perfect candidate for vicarious liability. In many states, there is a law called “Negligent Entrustment”, in which the “entrusters” (the parents) entrusts their minor to operate their vehicle knowing they are in some way incompetent (i.e. unlicensed, underage, reckless, inexperienced, etc.). There is another law called the Family Purpose Doctrine, which holds the parents liable for any damages caused to another as a result of their child driving their vehicle, regardless if they were given permission or not. However, these law vary from state to state.

Negligent entrustment law also applies to other people outside of family. If you knowingly allow another person to operate your vehicle who is incompetent or unfit in some way, you will be responsible for any accidents they cause.

Employees and Employers

Under vicarious liability law, employers are liable for any negligent driving the takes place by an employee while performing work-related duties. For instance, if a pizza delivery driver is delivering a pizza on the clock, but runs a red light and collides into a van full of people, the employer is responsible for all damages and losses sustained by the victims of the accident.

When it comes to car accidents, liability, and compensation, it is important to discuss these concerns with an experienced personal injury attorney. They can help you determine what rights you have to compensation after being negligently injured in an accident that was no fault of your own.

Indianapolis Car Accident Attorneys

Personal Injury Law Firm Indiana

Personal Injury Law Firm 317-881-2700

Call Craven, Hoover, and Blazek P.C. at 317-881-2700 to schedule a free initial consultation with one of our seasoned Indianapolis car accident attorneys, today. Personal injury litigators, Daniel Craven, Ralph Hoover, and Keith Blazek, are ready to help you recover the full and fair compensation you deserve. Call 317-881-2700 to request an appointment to discuss your car accident injury claim in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Can I Sue a Person for Wrecking My Car and Injuring Me?

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Car Accident Lawyers 317-881-2700

Car Accident Lawyers 317-881-2700

If you let a person drive your car, are you liable for any damages they might cause you and your vehicle? Or are they liable? Laws regarding vicarious liability in motor vehicle accidents vary from state to state, however, many are on the same page when it comes to a letting an individual operate your vehicle willingly. There are also different circumstances that change the liability boundaries among drivers and vehicle owners; such as employer and employee or parent and minor.

In this case, we will discuss the liability for a car accident and personal injury in a standard relationship scenario, like a friend, stranger, or relative. Continue reading to learn who would be at-fault for damages caused in a motor vehicle accident, in the case that someone else was driving the car other than the vehicle owner.

Negligent Entrustment

Negligent entrustment is a term that refers to the scenario of letting an unfit person drive your vehicle willingly. If you were to loan your car to someone that was not fit to operate a motor vehicle under law, then you would be responsible for any damages, injuries, and accidents they cause while driving it. An unfit person is anyone not legally permitted to operate a motor vehicle. This includes anyone who is underage, uninsured, unlicensed, under the influence of drugs or alcohol (including sleeping pills and pain medication), ill or sick, handicap or physically impaired, injured, a repeated reckless driving offender, or too elderly to drive.

Loaning Your Car

If you allow a “perfectly-fit” person to operate your vehicle, there are still liability set-backs in the case of an accident. If you loan your vehicle, or simply let someone drive with you as a passenger, and they cause an accident that results in vehicular damages and personal injuries, you would be responsible under law for these damages. However, there are exceptions to this situation, and it differs from state to state. But in most states, the car owner is the liable party in a case like this. In these states, as long as permission was given, the owner of the vehicle is accountable for any damages another person might cause.

Craven, Hoover, and Blazek P.C.

Personal Injury Lawyers 317-881-2700

Personal Injury Lawyers 317-881-2700

Call Craven, Hoover, and Blazek P.C. at 317-881-2700 and schedule a free initial consultation with a seasoned car accident lawyer in Indianapolis, Indiana. Attorney, Daniel Craven, retains extensive trial and litigation experience, and is happy to answer your questions about filing a motor vehicle accident claim in Indianapolis. Call 317-881-2700 today to learn more about your rights following a serious car accident in Indiana.