What Duty Does A Childcare Facility Have To Children?Although a nursery school or day-care center is not an insurer of the safety of the children in attendance, it does owe them a high degree of care appropriate with the ages of the children, their activities, their ability to foresee and avoid perils, and other circumstances. One court has held that preschool nurseries are primarily intended to provide supervision, so that the duty owed by the school to the students is substantially different from that owed by schools whose primary function is education, where the children are much older and the supervision is incidental. However, courts also observe that day-care nurseries cannot be expected or required to prevent children from falling or striking each other during normal childhood play.
Can A Childcare Facility Be Held Liable For Injuries To Children?Generally, courts use three different theories to hold childcare facilities liable, including:
NegligenceA breach of the childcare facility's duty to the children which causes injury may result in the facility being liable for negligence. For example, a 7 year-old girl who was hit in the face by a baseball bat was able to recover from the summer camp for her injuries. One counselor was supervising 10 to 15 children when he noticed one boy pick up a baseball bat. The boy was practicing swinging the bat when he struck the girl who was walking behind him, looking down at a cup of water she was carrying. The court held the summer camp liable for negligence, stating that supervision was inadequate under the circumstances.
Negligence Per SeIn many jurisdictions there are statutes which regulate childcare facilities. Violation of a statute which causes injuries can be evidence of negligence per se (an act which is intrinsically negligent because of the violation of a statute). For example, a day care center who is in violation of a statute requiring a certain ratio of staff members to children may be guilty of negligence per se.
Res Ipsa LoquiturRes Ipsa Loquitur is Latin for "the thing speaks for itself." It is used when the harm would ordinarily not occur without someone being negligent. Courts have applied res ipsa loquitur in childcare injuries, reasoning that the child would not be injured unless the facility was negligent. For example, a nursery school was held liable for a 4 year-old's concussion and nerve damage. The child's mother dropped the child off at the school, and when she returned to pick him up, she was told the child had an accident and "wet her pants." When she returned home, she found the child had crossed eyes and a sizeable bump on his head. The court applied res ipsa loquitur although the cause of the injury was a mystery because there was a reasonable inference that the defendant was negligent and that the negligence caused the injury.
Should I Consult An Attorney About The Liability Of A Childcare Facility?If your child has been injured at a childcare facility, a personal injury attorney can help. A personal injury attorney will deal with the childcare facility and help assert your rights so that your child can recover damages for their injuries. |
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