Suing a Babysitter Hired via a Website or App

When Can a Parent Sue a Babysitter in Texas?

If a babysitter acts negligently or recklessly, and your child is harmed while under their watch, then you may have a valid legal claim for a lawsuit.

To be able to move forward with legal action, you generally need to prove the following:

Duty: The babysitter accepted responsibility to care for or supervise your child.

Breach: The babysitter failed to act as a reasonable caregiver would (omitted care, left the child unattended, etc.).

Causation: That breach directly led to your child’s harm.

Damages: The child and your family suffered losses such as medical bills, pain, follow-up treatment for injuries, emotional harm, etc.

Even a one-time incident with a babysitter, especially if your child experiences a severe injury such as a third-degree burn or traumatic brain injury, can result in legal action.

If the babysitter is a minor, the laws and legal processes are a little more complicated. However, filing a lawsuit is still possible. The court might require a cosigner or assign responsibility to the minor’s guardians. That’s why we recommend speaking with our experienced legal team at The Button Law Firm.

Can a Digital Babysitting Platform or App be Held Liable, Too?

This is a more complex area. Whether an app or website shares legal liability for your child’s injury while in one of their babysitter’s care depends on several factors, including:

Role in hiring vs. just connecting: If the app simply acts as a matching service, where you pick the sitter, it is less likely to be held responsible. Platforms that actively vet, certify, or supervise sitters are more likely to be included in a lawsuit with a babysitter.
Promises made or background checks: If the platform promises “fully screened” sitters or background checks, and the company fails to deliver, you may be able to sue the company when something happens to your child with the sitter.
Misrepresentation or failure to warn: The app or website misled you or failed to inform you of known risks when using it to select a babysitter.
Contract terms and disclaimers: Many apps include terms of service that limit their liability. In Texas, courts would consider whether the app owed you a duty, whether that duty was breached, and whether that breach caused harm. It’s still a developing area of law.

What Should Texas Parents Do Immediately If Their Child Is Injured in a Babysitter’s Care?

If your child is harmed or severely injured while under a babysitter’s care, our Texas child injury lawyers recommend that you:

1. Get Medical Attention Right Away

Your child’s health comes first. Visit a local emergency room, an urgent care facility, or a pediatrician’s office to ensure your child’s injury is documented and treated by a medical professional. This step will create a record of their injuries and potentially reveal more in case your child is too young or does not have the verbal skills or vocabulary to explain what happened with the babysitter.

2. Contact Local Authorities

If a babysitter who you hired through a childcare app or website intentionally harmed your child or committed a criminal act while they were responsible for your child, contact your local police department. The police can then investigate the incident and your child’s injuries.

3. Document and Save Evidence

We recommend you preserve any and all evidence that shows how your child was harmed while under the watch of the babysitter. This includes taking pictures of your child’s injuries, screenshotting any text messages from your babysitter, and saving any messages or activity logs from the babysitting app or website. In addition, if your home is outfitted with security or hidden nanny cameras, save all footage from the day of your child’s injury while with the sitter.

You may even want to record or film your conversation with your child to learn more about how they were hurt and what the babysitter was doing at the time they were hurt.

4. Notify the Babysitting App or Platform

Depending on the childcare platform, notify the company in writing either via email or certified mail and ask for any records, logs, or account data regarding the babysitter who harmed your child. This could include the background check or notes from interviews conducted by the company.

5. Contact Our Experienced Child Injury Lawyers

For more than a decade, our experienced and compassionate team has been advocating for Texas families that have experienced traumatic incidents and injuries involving children. We will be ready to listen and can help you evaluate the legal options available to your family so that you can choose the best path forward.

Our team even has a child advocate on staff so that your child’s wellbeing and healing remains a priority throughout the legal process.

Contact us by calling 214-699-4409 or emailing us at intake@buttonlawfirm.com for a free case evaluation. You can also click here to see how we have successfully helped other families get justice.

What If I Signed a Waiver with the Babysitter or App?

Many popular babysitting websites and apps ask you to sign agreements, waivers, or liability releases. While these may deter some parents from taking legal action, never assume that your full legal rights are waived because these documents rarely provide a company with full legal protection. (They are not invincible from laws meant to protect children.)

In some instances, courts can refuse to enforce waivers or disclaimers in instances where gross negligence, also known as a significant deviation in the standard of care, or intentional misconduct, such as the mindful action of physically or sexually abusing a child, took place. In fact, waivers do not protect a babysitter or the platform used to hire them from any criminal acts against your child.

Is There a Time Limit on How Long Parents Have to Sue a Babysitter or a Caregiver Platform?

Texas has a two-year time limit, also known as the statute of limitations, for most injury claims. This limit begins on the date of your child’s injury with a babysitter.

There are some special rules when minor children are involved, but our experienced team of child injury lawyers recommends not waiting to take action. When parents wait, evidence degrades, the memories of witnesses fade, and your legal options become more limited.

Contact The Button Law Firm After Your Child’s Injury with a Babysitter

Our team of child injury lawyers is here to help you and your family move forward after a serious injury or traumatic incident with a babysitter anywhere in Texas. With offices in Dallas, Houston, and Midland, we will listen and explain the options available to your family. Call us at 214-699-4409, email intake@buttonlawfirm.com, or fill out our online form for a free case evaluation.

Schedule a Free Case Evaluation with a Texas Daycare Abuse Attorney Today

If you or someone you know has a child who was harmed by their daycare teacher, contact our firm. We know how difficult getting through this can be. Our experienced team wants to help guide you – as we have helped guide many parents and families within Midland, Houston, Dallas, and the surrounding areas.

You can give us a call at (214) 699-4409 or email us at intake@buttonlawfirm.com. You can also reach out to us by filling out the form below or by starting a chat with a member of our team.