33% of children under the age of five receive child care from nonrelatives. Their families trust daycares and child-care facilities not only to educate and entertain their children but keep them safe. Unfortunately, many children each year are victims of daycare injuries, and families find themselves asking, “Who’s to blame?”
Daycare Hazards
Not all daycare injuries result from an abusive employee. They’re often due to unsafe facilities. Examples include:
- Unsafe sidewalks, driveways, and parking lots
- Unsafe walkways, hallways, and doorways
- Unsafe playground equipment
- Unsafe toys
- Unsecured bookshelves and television stands
- Ungated pools
- Ladders that aren’t put away
- Medication left out in the open
- Accessible chemicals
- Loose stair handrails
- Wet floors
- Falling objects
Waivers
Daycare waivers often state that parents forfeit rights to sue in the event their child is hurt on site. However, those clauses rarely hold up in court as it’s against public policy to promote negligence.
Daycares who include these clauses in their waivers are either uninformed or attempting to scare parents. Parents have every right to compensation if their child is injured on site.
Daycare Injury Case
A family in Alabama was awarded $30.3 million in compensatory damages that occurred to their son while he was at a daycare. Christian, almost two years old, was napping on the floor in front of an unsecured dresser that held a television. Another child tripped on an unsecured cord which caused the television to fall on top of him. Christian suffered permanent brain damage from a fractured skull and intracranial bleeding.
Seeking Legal Help
Silkman Law Firm Injury & Accident Lawyer recently secured a $115,000 settlement in a premises liability case involving a resident of an apartment complex who was injured when a stair broke. Have you or a loved one been injured at a daycare or other place of business? Contact us for a free consultation.
