When a child gets hurt at a camp, sports league, or after-school program, most families ask the same question first: Who did this? But there’s a second question that carries just as much legal weight: Did the organization put that person in a position to cause harm?

In Georgia, the answer can make the organization itself liable. This post explains how background check failures translate into negligent hiring claims, what Georgia law requires, and what families can do when a youth organization falls short.

Negligent Hiring in Georgia

Georgia law holds employers and organizations to a duty of ordinary care when they bring someone on, paid or volunteer, to work with the public. Under O.C.G.A. § 34-7-20, an employer cannot continue to retain someone once it knows, or should know, that the person is unfit. Courts have extended this logic to the hiring decision itself: If a reasonable screening process would have surfaced warning signs, the organization had a duty to find them.

For roles involving children, a weak screening process can create serious negligence exposure when a reasonable review would have uncovered warning signs. Georgia Code § 35-3-34.2 creates a framework for qualified entities, including nonprofits and youth organizations, to access national criminal history background checks through the Georgia Crime Information Center.

What Families Can Pursue

The individual who caused the harm isn’t the only one who can be held accountable. Georgia law lets families go after the organization directly. Under Quynn v. Hulsey (2020) and O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33, juries assign fault to each party separately, meaning the organization’s decision to skip proper screening stands as its own act of negligence. The employee’s conduct and the organization’s conduct are two different failures.

Recoverable damages can include medical and therapy costs, pain and suffering, and, when the organization’s conduct was reckless or indifferent, punitive damages under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-5.1.

Talk to The Williams Litigation Group

Trust is something families extend automatically to youth organizations. When that trust gets exploited because an organization skipped a basic background check, legal accountability is worth pursuing.

We take these cases seriously throughout Georgia. If a youth organization let your family down, call us at 1-866-214-7036 or use our contact form.