Negligence is a fairly broad concept but it is the foundation of why people sue businesses and other individuals. Negligence means failing to act in a way that a reasonably qualified person in a similar situation would be expected to act and, through that failure, causing someone to come to harm. In the case of daycare facilities, negligence can manifest in several different ways.
Hiring Practices
In some cases, the daycare facility may be guilty of being negligent in their hiring practices. It is necessary to have every single person who works at the daycare background checked, as it is inevitable that they will have some access to children at some point. Some facilities skip background checks on employees that aren’t direct caregivers. This may be contrary to state licensing requirements and it may constitute negligence in the eyes of the jury.
Facilities
In some cases, a daycare facility is negligent and how it maintains its facilities. For example, they may create situations where children are in danger because of hazardous materials being left in accessible places or because they don’t maintain proper hygiene and, therefore, cause children to get sick. These are areas where a lawyer will have to help you understand whether or not negligence is likely at issue. Ultimately, the jury will have to make that decision when you seek compensation.
Abuse
Not stopping abuse is a form of negligence, in some cases. There are also cases where facility is found to be an active participant in the abuse or to have simply let the abuse go on while they were well aware that it was happening. If there is abuse going on, the most important thing that needs to be done is to bring it to a stop. This will usually require legal intervention by the police or other authorities.
If your child has been the victim of daycare negligence, you may have the option of filing a claim in court for damages. A daycare abuse attorney can meet you in the context of a free consultation to see if you do have this option. There’s no way to guarantee whether or not these cases will win but, if the attorney feels like you should go ahead and take a legal action against the daycare facility, they may offer to represent you in filing your claim. In some cases, the compensation paid out for these claims is quite substantial and helps families to recover from the abuse.