The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined plaintiff’s negligence hiring and negligent supervision causes of action against Family Services of Westchester (FSW) should have been dismissed. Plaintiff, in this Child Victims Act suit, alleged he was abused by a youth mentor employed by FSW when he was 10 – 12 years old:
To sustain a cause of action sounding in negligent supervision of a child under the alleged facts of this case, the plaintiff must establish that the defendant “had sufficiently specific knowledge or notice of the dangerous conduct which caused injury; that is, that the third-party acts could reasonably have been anticipated” … . Similarly, “‘[t]o establish a cause of action based on negligent hiring, negligent retention, or negligent supervision [of an employee], it must be shown that the employer knew or should have known of the employee’s propensity for the conduct which caused the injury'” … .
Here, the complaint failed to state a cause of action to recover damages for negligent supervision of the plaintiff, since it failed to sufficiently allege that the third party acts were foreseeable … . Similarly, the complaint failed to state causes of action to recover damages for negligent hiring and negligent training and supervision related to the plaintiff’s alleged youth mentor, since it failed to sufficiently allege that FSW knew, or should have known, of a propensity on the part of the youth mentor to commit the alleged wrongful acts … . Fuller v Family Servs. of Westchester, Inc., 2022 NY Slip Op 05992, Second Dept 10-26-22
Practice Point: Here in this Child Victims Act suit alleging abuse by an employee of Family Services of Westchester (FSW), the complaint did not state causes of action against FSW for negligent hiring or negligent supervision because the complaint did not sufficiently allege FSW was aware of the employee’s propensity for the wrongful conduct alleged.