Final answer:
Liability for negligent supervision arises when a supervisor fails to reasonably watch over those under their care, leading to foreseeable harm. Elements include duty of care, breach of duty, and causation. Examples include negligent babysitters and manufacturers selling products with known defects.
Step-by-step explanation:
Liability for negligent supervision arises under various circumstances. It is established when a party (the supervisor) fails to reasonably watch over, manage, or control persons under their care. The supervisor has a legal responsibility to protect those persons from harm that is foreseeable from a lack of supervision. In the provided Counter Example Situation 2, Susan was negligent in leaving children unattended in an environment with known dangers such as paint remover, thinners, flammable liquids, and a blowtorch.
Despite warning the children, her failure to continuously monitor them led to tragic consequences. Another instance is described in Counter Example Situation 3, where a manufacturer is held liable for continuing to sell a car model with a known brake defect, leading to injuries and deaths. The liability here arises from the manufacturer's prior knowledge and the failure to take action to mitigate the risk.
Three essential elements must be present for a claim of negligent supervision: duty of care, breach of that duty, and causation of harm directly related to the breach. For example, employers and manufacturers have inherent responsibilities over their employees and products respectively. If they fail to adhere to safety protocols or ignore known hazards, they can be deemed responsible when injuries or negative outcomes occur.