Child Care Provider Negligence

When you leave your child at a day care or another child care facility, you trust that a safe environment will be provided. Unfortunately, children sometimes suffer injuries due to neglect or abuse at child care facilities. Sometimes these incidents result in only minor medical expenses, but in other situations, the injuries may be severe and lifelong. A facility and its employees may be held accountable for accidents that are their fault. At the Hartsoe Law Firm, Knoxville child injury lawyer Mark Hartsoe can help you seek compensation for child care provider negligence in East Tennessee.

Child care provider injuries may happen for many different reasons, including negligent actions while caring for a child, negligent supervision of day care staff, physical abuse of a child, sexual abuse of a child, negligent bus drivers, failures to follow state safety laws, and negligent hiring. Any of these situations may give rise to a negligence claim. You will need to prove that the child care provider owed your child or you a duty of care and breached that duty by acting carelessly, which was the cause of the child's injuries. You will also need to establish the damages that resulted.

A child care provider is expected to use reasonable care to prevent foreseeable harm. Often, the circumstances dictate the scope of the duty, as well as whether it was breached. There are some accidents that are either not foreseeable or not a result of a breach of duty. However, failing to have the right staff-child ratio, leaving children unattended for long stretches, or failing to conduct background checks is likely to be viewed as a breach of the duty of care. Similarly, leaving open a container of bleach or ammonia that a child ingests would likely be considered a breach of the duty to use reasonable care.

In some cases, negligence per se may apply. This is a doctrine that a plaintiff may assert if the defendant violated a safety statute or regulation, the violation caused injuries to the plaintiff, the injuries were of the type that the law was intended to prevent, and the plaintiff was in the class of people that were supposed to be protected by the law.

Once duty and breach of duty are established, you will need to prove causation. This means showing that if it were not for the defendant’s carelessness, the injuries would not have happened. Sometimes the defense will try to show that there were intervening events that contributed to an accident or even superseded the child care provider's negligence. However, Knoxville attorney Mark Hartsoe can help you fight back against these arguments and try to hold a child care provider responsible for the full scope of the harm that your child suffered.

The Hartsoe Law Firm is ready to pursue compensatory damages for your child's injuries by establishing negligence or negligence per se against a child care provider. The damages may include both economic and noneconomic harms, such as medical bills, therapy, pain and suffering, and mental anguish. If you believe that someone else’s negligence caused your child's injuries, you should consult experienced Knoxville child injury attorney Mark Hartsoe. Call the Hartsoe Law Firm at 865-804-1011 or contact us via our online form to schedule a free consultation. Hartsoe can represent families who need a personal injury or wrongful death attorney in many areas of East Tennessee, including Knox, Blount, Anderson, Campbell, Claiborne, Cocke, Cumberland, Fentress, Grainger, Greene, Hamblen, Hamilton, and Jefferson Counties.