Can I sue the bus company that picks my son up from school?

You could sue them but I'm not sure why you want to since any damage is de minimus.

All governments and most departments of those governments (including the employees) are immune from being sued for being negligent. Any claims HAVE to fall into the narrowly construed exceptions to the law of Governmental Immunity. This does not sound like an exception.

You may have a case against the school that employs the bus driver. Contact an injury lawyer to discuss the matter.

Yes, I would advise you to talk to a personal injury attorney.

On the surface, it sounds like negligence on the part of the school district and/or bus company. You should check with the district to determine what their written policy is concerning busing of students and then go from there. Generally, the district policy will clearly state that bus drivers are supposed to do a walk through at the end of their shift to prevent things like this from happening.

You may have a negligence claim against the bus company for not checking the bus. You should sit down and speak with an attorney to discuss the situation in greater detail.

I don't know that it will be worth suing, but it sure is worth a letter to the company with a demand that it pay for your son's counseling and perhaps some extra money for his trauma.

Negligence, yes, damages questionable. Here's why: children falling asleep on a bus is a known problem among school bus drivers. That is why (among other reasons) drivers are required to check their bus when turning it back to the garage. The driver either didn't do the required check, or did an inadequate job. So there's negligence. Therefore, the bus company is liable. But liable for what? There was no physical injury. Inconvenience and anxiety, but nothing beyond that. All cases are evaluated as against what a jury might award. Without a showing of any actual injury, a jury is likely to award only nominal damages. It would be worth pursuing management about the improper actions of it's driver, though. If they don't give you a satisfactory response (and my bet is that they won't) then complain to the school board: If they did this to your son, how many times has it happened to other children? Will anybody give you an honest answer to that question? If they claim that they don't keep track of that information, they should. What other problems are they ignoring? If they refuse to take steps to correct this situation, then what else is likely to go wrong in the future? Would it be better for the school to not renew the contract with the bus company and instead hire its own drivers?