When you leave your child at daycare, you trust that the operators and daycare workers will keep your child safe while you are at work or performing errands that prevent you from taking care of them yourself. You likely expect that they will do everything they can to help protect and care for your child, but when gaps in supervision and errors in judgment get in the way of this, children can be seriously injured at daycare.
If your child became ill or was injured because of negligence or intentional violence at a daycare center in the Philly area, contact our Philadelphia attorney for injuries that occur at daycare. The Reiff Law Firm represents the parents of injury victims in lawsuits against negligent daycare companies and fights to get the family compensation for medical expenses and pain and suffering for their child’s injuries. For a free case consultation, call our attorneys today at (215) 709-6940.
Suing a Daycare for Injuries in Philadelphia
If your child goes to daycare, you have likely seen the site and talked with the daycare workers that will be caring for your child at that facility. While this means that you might have some knowledge of the daycare site’s conditions and the workers’ attitudes, there is often a huge difference between what daycares show the parents and what happens after the parents leave for the day. In cases where the conditions and treatment at a daycare fall below reasonable standards, children could be seriously hurt, and you might be entitled to file a lawsuit against the daycare staff and daycare company that allowed your child to be injured.
In these lawsuits, you must typically show that a few factors were present in your case before the court can award you compensation. First, you must show that the daycare center owed your child a duty. This duty is usually detailed in your contract with the daycare agency – if you have one – but the duty can generally be reduced to one simple duty: they have to act reasonably. If the daycare center and its workers breached this duty by failing to act with the care and skill that a reasonable daycare worker should use, this satisfies the second element of breach of duty.
Once you have proven that they breached the duty they owed your child, you must also prove that this breach of duty actually caused your child’s injuries. If your child would have been injured anyway – such as in the case of a natural disaster or an illness caught outside of daycare – the daycare center might not be responsible for the injuries. However, if their negligence did cause your child’s injuries or allowed the injuries to become worse, they should be held accountable.
Lastly, you must prove the damages that your child suffered. Damages in a case like this usually come down to damages for pain and suffering and the medical expenses it took to treat your child’s injuries. If the child suffered permanent injuries or disabilities that will affect them going forward, they might also be entitled to damages for future effects on their earning capacity. If your child died because of severely negligent care, you could be entitled to substantial compensation in a wrongful death lawsuit.
Examples of Negligent Injuries at Daycare in Philadelphia
The specific way that your child was injured and the specific actions or inactions that the daycare workers took to negligently or intentionally harm your child vary from case to case. The following are a few common examples of ways that children could be harmed in daycare that could allow the family to sue:
Intentional Injuries
“Shaken baby” incidents and other cases of corporal punishment or physical abuse at daycare are completely unacceptable. If your daycare intentionally physically or sexually abused your child, we might be able to take them to court and file for substantial damages, including punitive damages, to hold them responsible for what they did.
Falls and Drops
If your child fell or was dropped at daycare, they could suffer serious head injuries or brain trauma that might cause substantial harm. Injuries from falls can be compensated if they were caused by unsafe conditions on the premises that should have been cleaned or repaired, such as unsafe equipment on playgrounds or slippery floors in the bathroom. If your child was dropped by a daycare worker that was not paying attention, you can also usually claim compensation to hold them liable.
Electrocution, Burns, and Premises Liability Injuries
If your child was electrocuted or burned by a dangerous condition on the premises, you might be entitled to compensation. Your daycare should effectively childproof or babyproof the premises, preventing children from being injured by exposed wires, open electrical outlets and light sockets, broken electronics, lit stoves and burners, hot radiators, or other dangers on the premises. Failing to properly supervise the children or make the area safe for them could be the daycare center’s responsibility.
Bullying
If your child is being bullied at daycare, it is up to the responsible adults in the room to prevent violence, address bullying, separate children from their bullies, and keep everyone safe. If they do not properly monitor the situation, they could be responsible for your child’s injuries, but you might also be entitled to sue the bully’s and their parents.
Allergic Reactions
Children often have serious allergies, which often means peanuts and other nut products are banned entirely from daycares to prevent allergic reactions. If your daycare knew that your child had an allergy and did not take reasonable precautions to prevent exposure, they could be held accountable for your child’s allergic reaction. Similarly, if a parent sent their child in with a known allergen that they were asked not to bring to daycare, they could be held responsible for a reaction they caused.
Call Our Daycare Injury Lawyers in Philadelphia for a Free Case Consultation
If your child was injured at daycare because of negligent care or dangers on the premises, contact our lawyers today. Especially if your child was injured by intentional violence or abuse, our Philadelphia attorney for injuries that occur at daycare might be able to help you claim substantial compensation to pay for your child’s medical expenses, pain and suffering, and other damages. For your free case consultation, call the Reiff Law Firm today at (215) 709-6940.