CALL (888) 671-5127 TO SPEAK WITH A MIDLAND DAY CARE INJURY LAWYER FOR FREE
As life gets busier and busier for working moms and dads, parents often rely on daycare services to watch their children. More often than not, you can trust that your child will be looked after with the utmost care. However, daycare accidents can and do happen. It is every parent’s worst nightmare to entrust another person with the care of his or her child and have that child get hurt. While these accidents are not always the consequence of sinister and purposeful abuse, this does not change the fact that childcare providers should know better than to put a child’s health and safety at risk. Those whose actions do ultimately lead to the injury of a vulnerable child should be held responsible.
Nobody should ever have to suffer through the burdensome legal process alone. After a child has been involved in an accident, you should be afforded the freedom to take care of that child’s needs. Contact the experienced daycare accident attorneys at Zinda Law Group so that we may help you seek the maximum compensation you may be entitled to while you focus on your child’s recovery.
If your child or a child you know has been involved in a daycare accident, call (888) 671-5127 for a 100% free case evaluation with a Midland Daycare Iinjury Lawyer for free.
Causes of Day Care Accidents
Daycare accidents are commonly caused by untrained staff or distracted workers. Ultimately, this can lead to unsafe conditions for children. A few of the common causes of daycare accidents include, but are not limited to:
- Unsafe playground equipment or toys
- Disproportionate staff to child ratio
- Consumption of chemical products or medication that are not properly stored
- Unsecured heavy furniture
- Inappropriate disciplinary tactics
- Food allergy contamination
- Lack of sanitary conditions
- Lack of supervision in general
It is best to act quickly if you think your child is being improperly cared for, or you think there is a risk that they may be improperly cared for at a daycare facility. Speak with your child, speak with the staff, or take it upon yourself to observe what is going on one day when you drop your child off or pick them up. Always be on the lookout for physical signs of daycare abuse or emotional changes in your child that may be a sign of a larger issue.
John (Jack) Zinda
Founder / CEO
Over 100 years of combined experience representing injured victims across the country.
Available 24 / 7|Free ConsultationExamples of Negligence in Child Care
There is a multitude of ways that an individual can be negligent in a daycare setting. A few common example of daycare negligence cases that you may be familiar with include instances where a child swallowed a small object after not being supervised, staff failure to abide by sanitary protocol by allowing infants to be left too long without a diaper change, or even children running out into the streets during an unsupervised moment of outdoor play.
Neil Solomon
Partner
Real results matter. We do not get paid unless we win your case.
Available 24 / 7|Free ConsultationDay Care Regulations in Texas
The Texas Department of Health and Human Services (“DHHS”) states that daycare staff must be at least 18 years of age and have a high school diploma or the equivalent. There are a few exceptions for those that are 16 or 17 years of age as long as other staff members give them particular supervision. Additionally, Texas DHHS mandates certain staff to child ratios depending on a particular age range.
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services says the following of a daycare center’s responsibilities, “Supervising children at all times means that the assigned caregiver is accountable for each child’s care. This includes responsibility for the ongoing activity of each child, appropriate visual and/or auditory awareness, physical proximity, and knowledge of activity requirements, and each child’s needs. The caregiver must intervene when necessary to ensure children’s safety. In deciding how closely to supervise children, the caregiver must take into account: (1) Ages of the children; 2) Individual differences and abilities; (3) Indoor and outdoor layout of the childcare center; and (4) Neighborhood circumstances, hazards, and risks.”
Jason Aldridge
Attorney
Standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week ready to answer in your time of need.
Available 24 / 7|Free ConsultationMaking Claims for Compensation
While it may not be a requirement that you have an attorney, it is advisable that you do. Attorneys are in a position to anticipate what the daycare center’s insurance will use to avoid liability. After you contact an attorney about your case, here are few of the steps they may take to help you file a claim:
1. Contact the insurance company
2. Investigate the incident
3. Negotiate on your behalf
These steps may seem simple, but they are not. Daycare centers often have very secure insurance policies and lawyers who will stop at nothing to make sure you recover as little as possible if not nothing at all. After a situation where a child has been abused, it is vital that a parent have the time to focus on the recovery of their child and not stress about a lawsuit. Zinda law Group may be able to help you fight your claim so that you don’t have to fight alone.
Cole Gumm
Attorney
We are here to ensure you won’t have to face this difficult time alone.
Available 24 / 7|Free ConsultationWho Can I Sue?
When suing for negligence after a daycare accident, there are a few potentially liable parties who you may seek compensation from. At the outset, if you are suing a party for negligence, you will need to be able to show three general things. These three things are duty, breach, and causation. Whoever you choose to hold responsible, you will need to show they owed a duty of care to your child, they breached that duty through their conduct, and by committing this breach they caused injury to a child.
The following parties may have been negligent:
- The daycare facility: The daycare facility may be responsible if they directed an employee to act in a way that caused injury to your child or they may simply be held responsible vicariously through the employee if the employee was within the scope of their employment when the injury occurred. The facility may also be responsible for negligent hiring or retention of a dangerous employee or by failing to adhere to a federal, state, or local regulation.
- The individual in charge of looking after your child: You may be able to hold the individual responsible as well if you can show this individual was negligent by participating in an action that they reasonably should have known would cause harm to a child. This could have been through an individual action or by following the orders of the facility itself.
Average Settlement for Daycare Negligence
Unfortunately, it is impossible to provide an average settlement of what you may receive as the result of a daycare negligence claim. Each and every case is different and presents its own individual set of facts and circumstances that are considered when settling a claim. There is no telling what your individual claim may be worth.
With that being said, there are a few factors that are typically taken into consideration, which may be able to help you get an idea of what your claim is worth. Insurance providers and courts usually consider the type of injury, the cost of treatment, the potential for future pain and suffering, and the relative culpability of the parties involved. If it can be said that you are partially to blame for your child’s injuries, this may affect the amount you can recover for their injuries. This could happen, for example, if you fail to notify daycare staff about an allergy your child has or a known tendency, they have that often puts their safety at risk.
Legal Time Limits
Each legal claim has an important time limit on it that is commonly referred to as the statute of limitations. The statute of limitations is the legally permissible time limit in which you can bring a legal claim before you are barred from recovery altogether. Under Texas law, the statute of limitations for daycare negligence cases is two years from the date of injury. However, if the child-victim wishes to file a claim on their own behalf, they have two years after their 18th birthday to file a claim.
In the circumstance that daycare negligence has led to the wrongful death of a child, Texas additionally places a two-year cap on your ability to bring a claim. The two years begins on the day the death was discovered or should have been discovered with reasonable due diligence.
If Your Child Was Injured, Get Help from the Daycare Negligence Lawyers at Zinda Law Group
Texas law allows parents of children in Midland who are injured at daycare facilities to file a lawsuit on their behalf. Even if you unsure of the circumstances that caused your child’s injury, the attorneys at Zinda Law Group may investigate and determine the cause. If the daycare center was negligent and their negligence was the direct cause of the injury, we may file a claim for compensation including past and future medical expenses, therapy, surgery, pain, and disfigurement.
If your child is hurt in a daycare center accident, seek the advice of an experienced lawyer. The attorneys of Zinda Law Group are ready to speak with you today. The consultation is free, and there are no fees unless we reach a favorable result. Call today to schedule a free consultation at (888) 671-5127.
Meetings with attorneys by appointment only.
Jason Aldridge
Attorney
We have successfully represented clients in a wide variety of cases across the country.
Available 24 / 7|Free Consultation
