Can I Sue the Parents of My Child's Bully?

If a parent fails to stop the bullying and your child is hurt, physically or emotionally, you would be able to sue the parents under state law. This is on top of any claims you might want to bring against the school system.

But suing the parents poses some legal challenges. You would need to establish that they knew of the bullying, which requires you to prove what was in their heads. That’s a difficult task. You would also need to consider the possibility of tagging their homeowner’s insurance policy.

Taking legal action may encourage accountability and help prevent further harm. A personal injury lawyer near you can help you navigate the legal process, give legal advice specific to your situation, and represent you if you decide to file a lawsuit.

What Is the Legal Definition of Bullying?

There isn’t a standard legal definition of bullying itself. Instead, a few legal concepts and government agencies help form an idea of what bullying is — and when it’s severe enough to seek a legal remedy.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), bullying is any unwanted or repeated aggressive behavior that involves an observed or perceived power imbalance. Bullying may inflict physical, psychological, and emotional harm on the victim. Harm can be even more significant if the victim has low self-esteem or special needs.

Some specific acts of bullying may be illegal under criminal laws. Other bullying cases may only be civil in nature. 

Bullying typically takes the following forms:

• Physical bullying (hitting, kicking, etc.)
• Verbal bullying (teasing, name-calling, sexual harassment, taunting about sexual orientation, etc.)
• Social bullying (spreading rumors)
• Property damage

But much bullying today occurs online as cyberbullying. Social media is a bullying warzone, and children aren’t shy about criticizing their classmates in text messages.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), about 19% of students between the ages of 12 and 18 in public schools and private schools nationwide report having been bullied. Similarly, about 20% of high school students claim they were bullied on school property.

Research suggests that persistent bullying can cause such students to feel despair, isolation, rejection, and exclusion, and it can lead to or worsen depression or anxiety. Although the vast majority of bullying victims do not become suicidal, depression has been associated with suicidality.

What Should You Do if Your Kid Is Bullied?

Historically, kids were encouraged to stand up to their bullies. If that meant you got into a physical fight, so be it. Kids generally were expected to sort things out on their own. In fact, if you told a parent or a teacher, you would be shunned as a tattletale.

Times have changed. Parents are more likely to get involved if they learn that their child is the victim of bullying behavior.

Contact the School or Child Care Center

The first target is typically the child’s school. Teachers, staff members, and administrators are notified of the problem and held accountable by the parents if the school bullying doesn’t stop.

You could even file a civil rights lawsuit against school officials and the school district.

Contact the Bully’s Parents

But if it’s your child being bullied, you shouldn’t stop there. Assuming the aggressor is a minor, you want to make sure that you notify the bully’s parents. The school should do it, but as you’ll see below, giving the parents notice is necessary if you want to win a lawsuit against them. Something that important you might want to handle on your own.

Consider Your Legal Options

Perhaps the school or the other parents dismissed your concerns as “no big deal,” and the bullying continued. Or perhaps the bullying has been so serious that your child already suffered severe harm, and now your family is left struggling in the aftermath. An attorney in your area can review the facts of your child’s situation and recommend the next best steps to stop the bullying or recover losses.

Can I Get a Restraining Order To Stop Bullying?

Yes, it may be possible to obtain a protective order to stop bullying. A protective order is a court order that requires the subject (in this case, the bully) to comply with a specific demand, such as maintaining a physical distance from the child.

Protective orders, such as temporary restraining orders, may be appropriate in severe cases of bullying involving:

• Stalking
• Sexual abuse
• Other forms of serious physical abuse
• School gun violence

Some parents have been successful in getting judges to issue these orders to protect children in bullying cases. Yet, this legal option can depend on your state laws and the circumstances of your case.

You do not need to start or win a lawsuit before you can request an order. In fact, these orders aim to provide prompt help for a victim of harassment by stopping further harm. Lawsuits can take a long time, but seeking an order could provide more urgent protection for your child. Your lawyer can advise you on this option and help you file for an order if necessary.

Negligence Claim for Bullying

To win that lawsuit, you need to be able to show that the parents did something wrong. A wrong you can sue for is called a “tort.”

The tort you would try to prove against the parents is negligence. Negligence is the failure to use due care under the circumstances.

To show negligence, you need to establish the following elements:

• Legal duty of care: you were in a legally recognized relationship with the person who hurt you
• Breach of duty: the person who hurt you failed to exercise reasonable care under the circumstances
• Causation: their failure to exercise reasonable care directly and foreseeably caused you harm
• Damages: the harm you sustained is provable and legally compensable (including emotional distress)

If you have evidence that supports the existence of each of these elements, you would be able to win a negligence lawsuit.

Parents’ Duty To Control Children

Generally, a parent is under a duty to prevent minor children from intentionally or carelessly hurting others if the parent:

• Knows or has reason to know that they can control the child
• Knows or should know of the need to exercise control
• Has the opportunity to exercise such control

If all the following apply, the parent may be liable for the harm that their child inflicts. This is why notifying the parents is so important. If the parents don’t know that their child is bullying another child, they cannot be held liable in many states for damages caused by the bullying.

Anti-Bullying Laws

Some states also have specific laws that apply to bullying cases. These states impose liability on the parents for “willful or malicious” misconduct by a minor child who lives with them that causes harm to another. These laws would hold the parents accountable regardless of notice, but may limit the amount you can recover from the parents. But the child would still be on the hook for the full amount.

There is no federal law that specifically applies to bullying. But, in some cases in which bullying is based on a legally protected classification (e.g., race, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, disability), the school is obligated to address it.

Potential Compensation of a Bullying Lawsuit

One reason many lawyers file bullying lawsuits against the school and school district is that they have “deep pockets.” In other words, they have the money to pay a judgment against them (on top of a responsibility to ensure that the kids have a reasonably safe learning environment).

Suing the parents, who may be perceived to have shallow pockets, may seem a waste of time and effort. But it often isn’t.

Most people carry homeowner’s or renter’s insurance. These policies generally provide a minimum of $100,000 in coverage for negligence. Although the specific policy language will determine the scope of coverage, some policies may be broad enough to cover a lawsuit against the parents for their negligent failure to control their minor child. You may be able to recover even a substantial judgment against the parents of the bully.

When It’s Time To Consult A Lawyer for Advocacy

No parent wants to sit by and do nothing while their child is being bullied. You can counsel, advise, and console your child all you want, but that won’t make the bullying stop.

As a parent, you can expose the bully. Notify the teachers, trusted staff members, and the school counselor of the bullying incidents. And make sure you notify the bully’s parents. If they have notice and opportunity, they are under a legal duty to make it stop. The threat of a lawsuit may be enough to get the parents to get their kid to stop bullying. That might be enough for you.

But it may not be. Bullying can cause a child extensive harm, physically and emotionally. Your child might need medical care to treat physical injuries and therapy to cope with the bullying. You shouldn’t have to pay for that yourself.

If your child is the victim of bullying, you may want to think about getting legal advice from a personal injury attorney. They can help you understand whether you should take legal action.