Daycare Negligence in Texas

Trusting a daycare center in Texas with your child should not come with the risk of a serious injury due to negligence. Unfortunately, many daycare centers fail to properly care for the children they are responsible for. Daycare negligence can lead to serious and sometimes permanent child injuries. As a parent, you may be able to hold the daycare center accountable for your child’s injuries.

Common Types of Daycare Accidents and Injuries From Negligence

Every daycare center in Texas has a duty to provide a proper level of child care and supervision. A daycare center’s duties include maintaining a reasonably safe premises for children, properly supervising children, hiring an adequate number of staff members, and properly vetting and training employees. If a daycare center fails to fulfill any of its duties of care, serious child accidents and injuries can occur.

• Burns from bottle warmers.
• Wandering children struck by vehicles.
• Children drowning in bodies of water on the property.
• Falls down flights of stairs.
• Cuts and lacerations from sharp objects.
• Head injuries from falling objects.
• Fingers pinched in doors or furniture.
• Playground injuries from lack of supervision.
• Choking, strangulation or suffocation.
• Allergic reactions due to a failure to meet a child’s dietary needs.
• Accidents involving other children.
• Injuries from physical or sexual assault.

The legal term for a daycare center’s breach of duty is negligence. If a reasonable and prudent center would have done something differently to prevent the child’s injury, the daycare center in question may be guilty of negligence. The same is true of any of the daycare’s staff members. In some cases, child injuries are from intentional wrongdoing rather than negligence. Examples include child abuse in daycare centers. Whether a child’s daycare injuries are from neglect or abuse, the parents may have the right to file a lawsuit in Texas.

Common Daycare Center Injuries

A child may never be the same after a daycare center’s negligence causes a serious accident and injury. Daycare accidents can cause child injuries such as burns, lacerations, broken bones, dislocations, muscle injuries, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, organ damage and permanent disabilities. Some injuries can even prove fatal for a child. If a prudent daycare center would not have caused the same accident, the daycare in question may be liable for damages.

Can You File a Lawsuit Against a Daycare Center for Negligence?

A daycare center will be liable for its own acts of negligence, as well as the negligence of its staff members. You may be able to bring a claim against the daycare center for a child injury caused by a negligent or criminal staff member. The rule of vicarious liability makes a daycare center responsible for the actions and omissions of its employees. Before the civil courts will award a family financial compensation for a daycare center injury, the family (or family’s attorney) must prove four main elements.

• The first is that the daycare center owed the child a duty of care at the time of the accident. The child must have been under the daycare’s control at the time of the accident or injury.
• Breach of duty. The second element is a breach of the daycare center’s legal duty of care. A breach can describe any act or omission that meets the definition of negligence or recklessness.
• The third element is causation for the child’s injury, meaning a causal link exists between the daycare center’s mistake and the injury or illness.
• The final element is compensable losses suffered by the child – and the child’s family – due to the daycare center’s negligence, such as medical bills and emotional distress.

Proving an injury lawsuit against a daycare center in Texas can be difficult. If you need assistance, contact a Houston personal injury lawyer who accepts child injury cases. A plaintiff’s attorney can help you prove a daycare center’s negligence, recover compensation and achieve justice for your child’s injuries.