Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

Many employees at a major restaurant chain knew that an employee of theirs who was hired to work with the customers kids on art projects, was a convicted drug user. The manager further knew that she was currently using drugs. She worked for me as a babysitter of my 10 year old daughter. They knew she worked for me as a babysitter. No one informed me of this MAJOR issue.

An incident arose where she left me daughter unattended with a "be back in 10 minutes" she never came back!! Luckily my roommate was home sleeping and she awoke to my sobbing daughter. I was going to file a missing persons report that night when my daughter mentioned calls that the babysitter got on my daughters cell phone that day. I started to call the numbers and found out that she was arrested that night with numerous drug and felony charges.

Do I have a case against the restaurant chain for implied malice and child endangerment?


Asked on 8/20/10, 12:05 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

You certainly have no case for implied malice (that is not a legal cause of action) nor child endangerment (that is not grounds for a lawsuit; it's a crime and not applicable to the facts you describe). The key thing missing for you to have a case on any grounds is a legal duty on the part of the restaurant to do anything about what they knew. If the drug use had resulted in any harm to children while she was on duty at the restaurant working with the kids, they would certainly have breached a duty. If you had called the restaurant for a recommendation or as an employment reference and they had covered it up, you probably would have a breach of a duty. But unless there is case law out there that I don't know about, I don't see how the restaurant has any duty to tell you what they know about a private hiring of their employee for a separate moonlighting job as a babysitter.

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Answered on 8/25/10, 12:19 am


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