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PENNSYLVANIA: I.H. v. County of Lehigh
07.23.2010 | Child Protection
In an appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment to appellee-Topton House, a private foster care agency, holding that the private foster care agency was not vicariously liable for the ordinary negligence of appellant-child’s foster parent. The court noted that in Pennsylvania, only a “master-servant” relationship gives rise to vicarious liability for negligence; this relationship exists when the master has a day-to-day right to control the servant. Here, the court found that there was not a master-servant relationship present as appellee-Topton House’s supervision of the foster parent was only for the initial placement of the child and ongoing supervision of established goals, but did not extend to how the foster parent chose to achieve the goals.
Cite: No. 08-2766, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 13826 (3rd Cir. July 7th, 2010)
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