If your child is hurt at daycare, you may be able to sue staff if the daycare’s negligence caused those injuries. With an understanding of the duties of daycare staff and injuries resulting from their negligence or recklessness, you may better determine whether it’s possible to sue.
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To learn whether you can file a lawsuit against daycare staff, call Ankin Law today at 312-600-0000 and schedule a free consultation with one of our Chicago personal injury attorneys.
When Can You Sue for Daycare Injuries?
According to data from the Census Bureau, around 4.8 million children in the U.S. attend a daycare facility or preschool. Parents trust staff at these facilities to provide reliable care and keep their children safe, but some may violate that trust and practice negligence or even malicious acts to cause injuries to children under their care.
In other cases, other parties might be responsible for injuries, such as manufacturers of certain toys or playground equipment.
So, can you sue a daycare for negligence? Generally, if you believe negligence or recklessness on the part of individuals or entities caused injuries to a child in daycare, you may be able to file a personal injury claim for a child with the help of an experienced daycare injury attorney.
There are also many types of injuries that can occur due to employee negligence at daycare facilities, such as:
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs)
- Broken or fractured bones
- Spinal cord injuries
- Head and neck injuries
- Lacerations
- Burns
Common Causes of Daycare Injuries
There are multiple causes of injuries to children at daycare facilities. These can include:
Falls
Many daycare injuries result from falls, frequently when poor supervision allows for them to occur. They could also result from tripping hazards or slippery surfaces.
Playground Hazards
Poor supervision or poorly maintained playground equipment may also cause accidents in these areas, including falls and impact injuries.
Choking Hazards
Some toys or other objects may present choking hazards that can put children at risk of serious injury. Some of these objects might not be age-appropriate, but others could include dangerous and defective children’s products that may lack proper warnings.
Insufficient Childproofing
Products that might be dangerous to children, such as medications or other choking hazards or toxic substances, should have childproofing containers to prevent younger children from accessing them.
Medication Errors
In some cases, daycare employees may need to administer medication as instructed, based on parents’ and doctors’ guidelines. Otherwise, administering the improper dosage or the wrong medication could lead to serious medical conditions requiring medical care.
Poisoning
Toxic substances could poison children, including cleaning chemicals and pesticides. These substances should be in childproof containers and locked or otherwise in an area where children cannot easily access them.
Each of these injuries can result from inadequate supervision, insufficient or improper staff training, negligent hiring, poor sanitation, or negligent safety practices. With the help of a reputable personal injury lawyer, you may be able to prove how liability caused injuries or illnesses to a child.
What Damages Can You Recover for a Daycare Injury in Illinois?
There are many types of damages that parents or legal guardians may recover when a child is hurt at daycare, including a mix of economic, non-economic, or punitive damages.
Economic Damages
These damages account for the monetary costs resulting from a child’s injury or illness. Examples of economic damages in these cases include:
- Medical expenses, including emergency room visits, hospitalization, and ongoing treatment
- Lost income that may occur when a parent takes time away from work to provide care for the injured child
- Lost earnings if the injury causes a long-term disability
- Transportation costs to bring the child to doctor’s appointments, surgeries, or other locations for medical treatment and evaluation
- Psychological treatment and counseling
Non-Economic Damages
These kinds of cases could also involve non-economic damages that apply to the personal impact of an injury or illness on the child. For instance, a child could suffer long-lasting trauma, psychological distress, an inability to enjoy previous activities, and other personal experiences.
While these damages are typically more difficult to calculate than economic damages with defined dollar amounts, an attorney has methods to factor them into a total settlement amount.
Punitive Damages
If a case goes to trial and a court finds that a defendant was liable for egregious behavior, such as gross negligence or malicious intent, a judge or jury may award punitive damages on top of economic and non-economic damages. Punitive damages have the goal of punishing defendants to prevent similar behavior from harming others.
For example, a daycare employee might have been particularly reckless in allowing children to engage in behavior that caused harm, such as encouraging children to take dangerous risks or failing to properly supervise children while heavily impaired by alcohol or other substances.
How a Daycare Injury Lawyer Can Help Protect Your Child’s Rights
To successfully hold daycare staff, facility management, or other parties accountable for a child’s injuries, it’s best to work with an experienced Chicago child injury lawyer when suing a daycare.
Here are some of the main ways the right legal representation could help you seek total compensation on your child’s behalf:
Determining Liability
One essential step you’ll need to take in any type of personal injury case is to prove liability. In demonstrating liability for a daycare accident and resulting damages, you will need to demonstrate several key items.
First, you must show how the liable party owed the child a duty of care, that the party breached that duty of care, and that this breach of duty led to an accident or intentional incident that resulted in quantifiable damages. In proving liability, you may find one or more parties responsible, including daycare employees, management, product manufacturers, or others.
Additionally, you will need ample evidence to support your claim, which may include everything from photos and video footage of the incident and injuries to medical bills and documentation proving that your child was enrolled in the daycare center at the time of the incident.
Calculating Damages
To help you recover a full settlement, an attorney could calculate the total value of your case by factoring in all economic and non-economic damages, and in some cases, punitive damage. When negotiating with insurers or taking your case to court, your attorney would be able to continually fight for total compensation throughout the claims or legal processes.
Filing a Claim With the Daycare Center’s Insurance
With your total settlement calculated, you can begin filing a personal injury claim for a child against the liable party’s insurance company, which would usually be the daycare center’s insurer in these cases. Insurers will want to avoid making large payouts, which is why the adjusters they assign to your case will likely try to minimize or reject your claim.
An attorney can make counteroffers against the insurer’s initial offer until you’re able to reach a settlement that’s favorable to you. In turn, you won’t have to worry about insurers cheating you out of recovering total compensation at any point during negotiations.
Initiating a Lawsuit
If an insurance claim fails or otherwise isn’t sufficient to recover compensation when a child is hurt at daycare, your attorney could decide to proceed with a lawsuit.
Working with an attorney is particularly crucial during the legal process to help you seek compensation. Without sufficient experience navigating a personal injury case, especially cases involving children, you may inadvertently say or do the wrong thing and compromise your case.
Your attorney can indicate how long a personal injury lawsuit takes, guiding you through each step as he or she prepares a strong case in your favor. Your lawyer will be able to gather sufficient evidence and present it, covering your case from the opening statement to the settlement phase.
Find the Right Daycare Injury Lawyer in Chicago Today
There are many intricacies in personal injury cases, especially cases involving children. There are also legal considerations to keep in mind for cases involving minors, making it important to know how to proceed with a case on behalf of a child.
If your child is hurt at daycare, and you want to recover total compensation, it’s in your best interest to consult the right attorney for the case. At Ankin Law, our Chicago personal injury attorneys can meet with you in a free consultation to discuss a claim or lawsuit, and help you sue a daycare or another liable party for injuries your child suffered.
Contact us online today to schedule your next free consultation with us and find out what legal options you have to pursue compensation from liable parties for daycare injuries.
