Boston Injury Lawyer Blog
It is every parent’s worst nightmare: getting the call that your child was injured while under the watch of caregiver.
For Shaunna Broadway of Oklahoma, she was stunned to learn that the daycare facility she sends her sons, Connor, 7, and Trae, 5, to had taken the boys to a splash park and allowed them to play outside for hours, without sunscreen.
According to CNN, Broadway had dropped her boys off at Happiness is a Learning Center last week at 9 a.m. When she arrived to pick them up, her sons were crying and writhing in pain, their skin red with severe sunburn. Staff at the daycare told the single mother that they did not have sunscreen and that the boys had refused to keep their shirts on. Broadway was advised by a local pharmacist to apply aloe to her sons’ skin—but soon found herself in the emergency room. By Sunday morning, the boys were transported to Shriners Hospital for Children with boils on their shoulders and backs and Connor complaining of chest pain. The brothers were treated for serious, second-degree burns. Son Connor’s burns had eventually reached a level of third-degree and both boys, sadly, had to have skin removed from their backs.
When suffering from a second-degree burn, a person’s outer and underlying layers of the skin’s tissue are destroyed. Second-degree burns may take up to four weeks to heal and can cause scarring. Third degree burns are worse, requiring the skin to be replaced in order to treat. (Source: CNN)
This is not the first time the daycare has had legal issues. According to CNN, Happiness is a Learning Center had been visited in the past by the department for a list of non-compliance violations. These violations include expired fire extinguishers, incorrectly placed and updated food menu, and “no one on staff with a current director’s credential.” CNN has reported that the daycare was permanently shut down per order of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.
My Child Sustained an Injury at Day Care… Now What?
If your child suffered an injury at a day care center or under the supervision of a caregiver, you may be entitled to recourse.
Establishing a claim for negligence is often the most challenging part, and to file a personal injury or premises liability case you must be able to prove that your child’s daycare facility had a duty of care, breached that duty of care and thus caused injury to your child.
Due care means the extent of which a daycare facility or caregiver would reasonably be expected to exercise in order to prevent a foreseeable injury. Often this is determined based on how the circumstances that led to your child’s injury compare to how normal day care centers should be operated. Two main factors should be considered when determining this:
- The cause of the injury or how the injury occurred
For example: Was your child injured because he/she was inadequately supervised? - The nature of the injury and whether it was foreseeable
When your child is injured at his/her daycare facility, your child should first and foremost complete medical treatment for those injuries. Once treatment is complete and your child is released from the doctor’s care, it is important to obtain any associated medical bills or reports.
At the law offices of Altman & Altman, LLP, our team of attorneys has handled all types of personal injury cases, from negligence to premises liability. If your child was seriously injured at his/her daycare, you may be entitled to collect compensation for those injuries. Call our office today to schedule a case evaluation to see if you qualify. All initial consultations are completely free and confidential.
Read the full article here.
