Injuries at Daycare
Child care providers have a duty to provide a consistently supervised, safe environment for the children in their charge. But when you read the news, the cases of hurt, injured and death by accident due to negligence by daycare providers are all too common.
Just skimming through the headlines, reports like these seem commonplace:
- Three months before his brother’s birthday, a small boy saw a television fall on his little brother’s head, later killing him, at the Mary McLeod Bethune Day Care Center.
- Three families of children who attended Sunshine Childcare & Preschool in Lyman accuse the owners of assault and negligence.
- A lawsuit has been filed blaming a Michigan City daycare center and its owner for the June 9 death of a 5-year-old boy. According to authorities, Amareon was seen by other children draping a jump rope around his neck. He then came partially down a slide and stopped before reaching the bottom. The other end of the rope was fastened to the top of the playset. Emergency responders found the boy had difficulty breathing and transported him to the hospital where he died from asphyxiation.
Many of these injuries and death are 100 percent preventable.
Types of Daycare Injuries Caused By Negligence
These are only a few types of injuries that a daycare center should use precautions to prevent. There are many others and the circumstances of each particular case and child’s injury will determine whether or not the daycare facility was negligent by failing to exercise due care.
- Hurt when falling from playground equipment
- Old or unsafe playground or daycare equipment
- A food allergy reaction when a food allergy plan was set in place and ignored
- Injury due to unsanitary conditions
- A child injured after bumping or tripping over an object
What to Do If Your Child Has Been Hurt At Daycare
If your child is injured while in daycare, liability laws of your state control the circumstances and extent to which your daycare is held responsible. In order to establish a claim of negligence against the daycare center, you must prove they had a duty of care, breached that duty, and because of that breach, your child received an injury. Since the child is a minor, you must be appointed guardian ad litem to sue on behalf of your child.
Make sure to investigate and document these areas of interest when preparing your case:
- When your child receives medical treatment for the injuries and the treatment is completed, obtain all medical bills and medical reports.
- The medical treatment amount often determines the compensation due for pain and suffering. Compensation for pain and suffering is an amount above and beyond the medical bills.
- Report how the facility failed to exercise due care to prevent a foreseeable injury to your child. If possible, obtain witness statements and photographs.
Settlement Offers in Daycare Lawsuits
Before you sign a settlement agreement prepared by an insurance company, you should have an attorney familiar with daycare injuries review the proposal before accepting or signing off. You do not want to accidentally waive any of your child’s rights.
If you are not in agreement with the offer to settle from the insurance carrier, the next step is to file a lawsuit for negligence against the daycare facility before the expiration of the statute of limitations or you will lose your rights forever in the matter.
Contact us immediately and our premises liability attorneys will answer all of your questions, explain your rights and if we take on your case, we will help you achieve justice. Justice is not automatic; we will fight for you. Call 1-954-633-8270 to schedule an injury at daycare consultation.
For internet based inquiries please fill out our online consultation form to schedule a private consultation with one of our injuries at daycare attorneys. – See more at: https://wolfandpravato.com/#sthash.UNIbGpkN.dpuf.
