Vanessa Ball sued Bright Horizons Children Center, Inc., as next friend and natural mother of M.C., a minor. Ball alleged that the day care center’s teacher negligently supervised M.C.’s classroom, which proximately caused him injuries. Bright Horizons moved for summary judgment, which the trial court subsequently granted. Ball appeals, and after reviewing the entire record, we affirm the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to Bright Horizons. Ball alleges in her complaint that, “while in the care, custody, and control of defendants and employees of defendants, M.C. and T.S.,” another boy in M.C.’s class, were allowed to remain unsupervised within a “fort” built of blocks inside their classroom.1 M.C. was four and T.S. was six at the time. Ball further alleges that T.S. “sexually abused” and committed sodomy on M.C. within that fort some time during the period of July through December 1996. This negligent failure to supervise proximately caused M.C. “severe and excruciating mental pain and anguish,” according to Ball’s complaint. Ball further sought punitive damages against Bright Horizons, characterizing the center’s actions as reckless and evincing conscious disregard for M.C.’s rights.
In its answer, Bright Horizons denied Ball’s allegations and counterclaimed for slander. In its subsequent motion for summary judgment, Bright Horizons argued that it was not liable to Ball because it had no notice that there was a risk of such an occurrence , and because it is not an insurer against all possible hazards. Ball responded that Bright Horizons need not be on notice of a specific harm to be liable if that harm befalls one of the children in its care, and contended that Bright Horizons is liable for failing to properly supervise the two children, and in allowing them to build an enclosed structure in the classroom within which they could not be seen by staff. The trial court granted summary judgment to Bright Horizons, concluding that “there is no evidence that the classroom was not supervised, that the children were not observed or that Bright Horizons personnel allowed the boys to wander off the premises. Cit. The evidence does not show the date of the incident or how long the incident lasted.”
