No parent wants to receive a call saying their child has been injured at daycare, but this is unfortunately a call some parents will receive. There are a variety of reasons why this injury could occur, many of which are out of the daycare’s control. However, certain situations are foreseeable and preventable, which is why all parents need to learn the signs of negligence at daycare in order to determine whether or not contacting a personal injury lawyer is necessary.
1. Understanding the Legal Elements of Daycare Negligence
The first way to know whether or not negligence was present when your child got injured is to, naturally, define negligence. There are four key components to negligence:
- Duty of Care: The daycare has a legal responsibility to ensure a safe environment.
- Breach of Duty: The daycare failed to uphold safety standards.
- Causation: The child’s injury directly resulted from the daycare’s negligence.
- Damages: The injury led to medical bills, pain and suffering, or other losses.
Based on the above, there are some common forms of negligence to be aware of. These include a lack of supervision leading to injuries, unsafe premises such as broken playground equipment or exposed writing, a failure to address food allergies or medical needs, and any type of physcial, emotional, or verbal abuse. However, proving negligence is far easier said than done in most cases.
2. Gathering Crucial Evidence to Strengthen Your Case
As mentioned, to actually show that negligence was the cause of the accident your child went through, you will need to gather evidence. This can come in a variety of forms, but try to start with medical records and any associated documentation. Medical reports, doctor’s statements, and treatment plans can all be common examples to establish and ensure a connection between the injury and the daycare’s negligence.
Also, consider gathering witness statements from the daycare. This could include statements from other parents, daycare staff, or children who may have witnessed the accident. Statements from expert medical professionals asserting the severity of your child’s injury can be helpful as well. Try to also gather photographic and video evidence if possible too. Any pictures of hazardous conditions at the daycare or surveillance footage showing the incident will be resoundingly helpful in clearing up what happened.
Finally, review the contracts and policies for the daycare you were sending your child to. These will contain information that may contradict safety promises against what happened which you can use to further develop your case. You should also ask around to see if other parents or parties have complained about violations or citations at the daycare.
3. Filing a Daycare Negligence Claim
Assuming you have reviewed the above and come to the determination that negligence was most likely to blame for the accident your child went through, filing a negligence claim will be your best next step. First and foremost, notify daycare management, child protective services, or state licensing agencies that you intend to submit a claim against the organization and keep a written record of all communications.
When going to submit your claim, you will need to distinguish between whether the daycare itself was responsible for the incident via a lack of poor training, safety measures, etc., or if it was the actions of an individual caregiver that led to the incident. Personal negligence or misconduct will be treated differently than if the negligence were on behalf of the entire organization, which is the reason for this distinction.
To determine who was truly to blame and the proper steps to file the negligence claim from that point forward, contact a personal injury attorney who can sit down and go over the details of your case with you.
4. Maximizing Your Compensation
Once you have determined negligence was to blame for the event and also decided to file a claim, it will be important to work with a personal injury lawyer to maximize your compensation. There are a variety of damages you can claim, but the most prominent archetypes include:
- Economic Damages: Medical bills, therapy costs, lost wages (if a parent had to miss work).
- Non-Economic Damages: Pain and suffering, emotional distress, reduced quality of life.
- Punitive Damages: Awarded in extreme negligence cases (e.g., abuse, reckless endangerment).
Assuming you attempt to settle things through insurance rather than court, you will also need to be ready to negotiate with insurance companies. When you think about it, the role of an insurance company is to minimize payouts, so they may attempt a lowball settlement offer. It’s truly at this point that you should hire a lawyer if you have not done so already, as they will be able to argue with insurance on your behalf and advise you on when it may be time to go to court.
To that end, understand that to maximize compensation a full-scale trial may be the better choice. The timeline will be longer than with settlement, at potentially weeks or months, but the outcomes can be higher in a reward amount. However, you do run the risk of losing the case and walking away with nothing which is why you need to confer with your lawyer on the best option.
Protect Your Child by Making them Whole
By proving negligence with strong evidence, such as video footage or eyewitness testimony, you can develop an efficient case to bring to insurance or the courts against the daycare agency. Nobody wants their child to be injured as a result of the negligence of others, so take action as soon as possible by identifying the signs that negligence was present, contacting an injury attorney who can assist you with the negotiation process, and fighting to receive fair compensation. An experienced attorney can help you navigate the nuances of the legal field, which is why it’s always advised to bring them on as early as possible to reduce the risk of unfair settlement.
