Baltimore Attorney for Injuries that Occur at Daycare
Kids might get hurt at daycare from minor bumps or bruises, and, especially during cold and flu season, parents might anticipate their child coming home with a cough or runny nose. However, more serious injuries or illness should never be acquired at a daycare where the workers are trusted to help keep your kids safe.
If your child was injured at daycare and suffered serious injuries or illness involving emergency medical treatment, permanent disabilities, physical violence, and pain and suffering, contact Rice, Murtha & Psoras today. Our Baltimore attorney for injuries that occur at daycare might be able to help you get compensation from the daycare center where your child was injured. For help with your case, call our lawyers today at (410) 694-7291 to schedule a free case consultation.
Types of Injuries at Daycare Centers in Baltimore
Children sometimes get inured, and there might not be anything that a reasonable level of supervision could have done to prevent the injury. However, other injuries are caused by serious gaps in supervision that sometimes rise to the level of negligence. Many accidents and injuries that stem from negligence or intentional acts can lead to lawsuits, including the following:
Abuse and Neglect by Daycare Staff
If the workers at your child’s daycare failed to feed your children, allowed a baby to stay in a dirty diaper all day, or otherwise neglected your child, you might be entitled to sue them. Additionally, intentional acts of violence, shaken babies, corporal punishment, or other instances of intentional assault, battery, or sexual assault could all be the basis of a serious lawsuit against the daycare.
Negligent Supervision
The daycare workers are charged with keeping your children safe by helping them avoid hurting themselves or others. If the daycare provider unreasonably leaves the children unattended or pays more attention to their cell phone than the children, kids could get seriously hurt. During playtime, mealtime, and even nap time, negligent supervision could lead to serious injuries. Additionally, if negligent supervision allowed a child with signs of a serious illness to stay at daycare and spread the illness, the daycare center could share liability for getting your child sick.
Dangerous Premises
Daycare centers must have some level of childproofing and babyproofing on their premises to prevent accidental injuries. This means taking simple measures like repairing broken or dangerous stairs, handrails, furniture, and playground equipment. it also means preventing electrocution hazards and fire hazards, such as exposed light sockets, frayed wiring, open electrical sockets, hot radiators, and other dangers. At the very least, this could mean clearing and cleaning up ice and snow on the sidewalk or spills in the bathroom or cafeteria area to prevent slip and fall injuries.
Bullying
Children can be mean, but it is up to the adults to properly supervise the children and prevent fights or violence from breaking out among the kids at the daycare center. If the daycare staff failed to notify you about issues with another child or failed to separate children from other kids who bullied, injured, or harassed them, they may be partly responsible for any injuries or psychological distress that resulted.
Allergic Reactions
Today, allergic reactions are such a risk to some children that many daycare centers take steps to ban peanut products and other allergens from the daycare center. If the daycare center acted unreasonably by allowing a known allergen into the daycare, by acting negligently in enforcing their own policies, or by failing to take reasonable precautions to prevent allergy issues, they might be liable for your child’s allergic reaction and the resulting harm.
Suing for Damages for Injuries at a Daycare in Baltimore
If your child was injured, you might be entitled to sue the daycare worker that allowed the injury to occur and the daycare center as a whole. These lawsuits usually rely on a “negligence” case, which means that you must prove that the daycare workers failed to use the proper care and skill expected of them to prevent injuries. Negligent supervision, premises liability injuries, and other accidental injuries can usually lead to a successful lawsuit on negligence grounds. Injuries caused by intentional violence or injury can also be grounds for an intentional tort lawsuit, such as an assault and battery claim.
When you file these cases, you can typically file them against the individual daycare worker that injured your child as well as the daycare center. the individual will be the primary defendant in the lawsuit, but you might be able to also hold the daycare center liable as their employer since the negligence occurred within the scope of the daycare workers’ employment. You can also typically sue the daycare center directly for issues involving negligent hiring or negligent retention of an employee that they knew or should have known was a danger based on prior complaints, a record of child abuse or neglect, or a criminal record for violence or gross negligence.
Ultimately, the damages you are entitled to claim will depend on the injuries your child suffered. Typically, if the injury was severe enough to lead to a lawsuit, there will have been medical expenses and pain and suffering associated with the injury. You can typically claim compensation for the full value of the medical bills, plus noneconomic damages for your child’s physical pain and mental anguish. If the injury caused a permanent or long-term disability, you may even be entitled to damages for the future impact this injury will have on your child’s earning capacity and income. In some cases, the court might issue additional punitive damages that the daycare center will have to pay you to punish them for serious negligence or repeat issues at their daycare center.
Call Our Baltimore Daycare Injury Victim Lawyers for a Free Case Consultation
If your child was injured at daycare, call Rice, Murtha & Psoras today. Our attorneys file lawsuits on behalf of injury victims and their parents to help them seek compensation for medical expenses, future lost wages, and pain and suffering. For help understanding what your case might be worth and how to proceed, call our Baltimore attorneys for injuries that occur at daycare today at (410) 694-7291.