On Dec. 14, 2011, plaintiffs’ decedent Madison Horne, 4, who was born with cerebral palsy and could not speak, was placed in a shower chair so that her mother, Megan Horne, could bathe her. At the time, John Barbarich, a licensed vocational nurse hired by Allied Professional Nursing Care Inc., was present in the home to provide daily nursing care for Madison’s sister, plaintiff Ariella Horne, 1, who had suffered severe brain damage six months earlier from a near-drowning incident when her mother left her and her two young brothers unattended in the bathtub. The San Bernardino Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) determined that the incident was an accident and did not remove the children from the home. Ms. Horne turned on the shower and left the bathroom to watch a short video on her computer. Hearing Madison snort, she returned to the bathroom, saw burns on the child’s body, and turned off the hot water. She screamed for Barbarich, who was caring for Ariella in the family room. Barbarich subsequently ordered Ms. Horne to give oxygen as he tried calling 911. He then called the fire department for first aid advice. Paramedics eventually arrived and took Madison to the hospital, where she later died due to complications from extensive third-degree burns. Thereafter, the DCFS removed the remaining Horne children from the home, determining that the allegations of severe neglect against Ms. Horne and general neglect against their father, Nathan Horne, were substantiated and caused Madison’s scalding death. The decedent’s sister, Ariella, her minor brothers, Tripp Horne and Jacob Bradley, sued Barbarich; Barbarich’s employers, Allied Nursing Care Inc. and Allied Professional Nursing Care Inc., and the operator of the DCFS, the county of San Bernardino. The children’s’ father, Nathan Horne, was later added as a plaintiff and their mother, Ms. Horne, was listed as a nominal defendant. Prior to trial, plaintiffs Ariella and Tripp were dismissed from the case, and the county was dismissed as a defendant. Thus, the matter ultimately went to trial with Jacob and Mr. Horne’s claims against Barbarich and Allied Professional Nursing Care Inc. Plaintiffs’ counsel argued that Barbarich and Allied Professional Nursing Care were mandatory reporters of suspected abuse and neglect and that their failure to perform their “statutory duty” led to the “foreseeable” and preventable horrific death of Madison, a young child. Counsel contended that Barbarich and Allied Professional Nursing Care knew of the prior “child neglect” by Ms. Horne, which resulted in Ariella’s devastating near-drowning and resultant “vegetative state.” Counsel also contended that Barbarich and Allied Professional Nursing Care were aware that Ms. Horne continued to engage in the practice of leaving her children unattended in the bath/shower prior to the scalding incident. Thus, plaintiffs’ counsel argued that Barbarich and Allied Professional Nursing Care failed to provide a safe home environment due to the foreseeable effect of having the hot water heater set on the highest heat setting by the father, Mr. Horne. Defense counsel argued that the parents, Mr. and Ms. Horne, were comparatively at fault for the scalding incident since they had a personal responsibility to ensure a safe environment for their children and the reasonableness of the role of the home health staff in properly caring for their patient, Ariella, the vegetative younger sibling. Defense counsel also argued that Barbarich and Allied Professional Nursing Care had no prior awareness of anyone being harmed by the hot water heater setting and that Barbarich had no duty to report because he had never observed or reasonably suspected abuse or neglect occurring in the home before the incident., Madison suffered severe third-degree burns from scalding water. She was rushed to a hospital, but ultimately died from burn-related complications several hours later. She was 4 years old. Madison was survived by her younger sister, Ariella, then 1 year old; a younger brother, Tripp, then 2 years old; and an older brother, Jacob, then 7 years old. She was also survived by her parents, Nathan and Megan Horne. Mr. Horne sought recovery of general damages for the wrongful death of his older daughter, Madison. Jacob sought recovery of damages for his past and future emotional distress as a result of witnessing Madison’s , as well as sought recovery for his future mental health care. Thus, Mr. Horne and his eldest son, Jacob, sought recovery of $18,029.30 in past economic damages for medical and funeral expenses, $10,000 in future economic damages for Jacob’s psychotherapy, and an unspecified amount for Jacob’s non-economic damages.