Parents of an Oklahoma boy have filed a personal injury lawsuit on behalf of their young son, alleging he suffered a brain injury while at day care.
Of course, our injury lawyers know that kids are prone to getting hurt. They can be clumsy. They don’t always pay close attention to where they are walking or climbing or running. They often fail to appreciate the danger in every day situations. But that’s all common knowledge, and that’s precisely why a company running a daycare has the responsibility to keep a watchful eye. They have a duty to make sure their staffers are fully vetted, properly trained and carefully watched. They have a responsibility to make sure they hire enough staffers in ratio to the number of children in their care and that appropriate action is taken to prevent accidents, injuries and illnesses that are foreseeable.
Plaintiffs in these cases need to show that the child’s injuries were the result of negligence, which means the daycare facility and/ or staffers failed to exercise due care to prevent a foreseeable injury. Accidents that involve falls from playground equipment, illnesses caused by unsanitary conditions or slipping on some substance that wasn’t quickly cleaned – these are all incidents that were probably foreseeable. Similarly, a child injured by a daycare worker with a violent criminal background or a lack of basic experience would also be a foreseeable injury.
The case in Oklahoma involves a baby boy who was just 8-months-old.
The mother said when she went to pick up her baby one recent afternoon from the day care center, she immediately knew something was wrong. The first and most obvious indicator was the large “goose egg” on his head, with bruises surrounding it. A day care worker told her that he’d hit his head while crawling on the floor. That’s what the day care worker also wrote in the incident report to the state Department of Health Services.
But the mother wasn’t content to take that as an answer. She asked to see the surveillance tape of the incident. The day care worker told her there was something wrong with the video player, and promised to get it for her by the following morning. The mother left reluctantly that day.
However, the boy’s condition worsened. He continued to act lethargic. The mother returned to the day care center and demanded to see the video, saying she would not leave until she did. The video reveals the worker put the baby on a rocking horse. Unable to hold himself up, he nearly fell off twice. The worker caught him, but continued to put him back on. Then, she walked away, leaving him on the rocking horse. Unable to hold his balance, he fell off again, this time falling face-first onto the ground.
The little boy was immediately rushed to the emergency room, where he was diagnosed with a concussion. His mother was afraid to let him fall asleep, worrying that if he did, he might not wake up.
The boy is still being monitored.
Now, his parents have filed a personal injury lawsuit on his behalf, seeking compensatory damages for medical expenses, as well as punitive damages for the fact that the day care worker lied to them and tried to conceal what happened – an act that could have cost the baby precious time in receiving medical attention.
Call Freeman Injury Law — 1-800-561-7777 for a free appointment to discuss your rights. Now serving Orlando, West Palm Beach, Port St. Lucie and Fort Lauderdale.
Additional Resources:
Only on 4: Family files lawsuit after surveillance video shows baby injured at Edmond day care, Feb. 8, 2017, By Abby Broyles, News Channel 4
More Blog Entries:
Florida Supreme Court Rejects Medical Malpractice Arbitration Agreement, July 16, 2017, Boca Raton Child Injury Lawyer Blog