Covington Daycare Injury Lawyer

Daycare Injury Lawyers Serving Covington, GA

Many families with young children rely on daycare centers and their staff to care for and supervise their children. We understand how frustrating and angering it can be to find out that your child suffered an injury at a place you expected to provide high-quality care.

At MG Law, our lawyers are here to advocate for you and your family. If your child suffered an injury at a daycare facility, reach out to a Covington daycare injury attorney. We can aid you in recovering the compensation you need for your child to heal.

Common Daycare Center Injuries 

Most daycare workers supervise children at childcare centers well. It can be excruciating to learn that your child has suffered an injury because of staff negligence. Some of the most common injuries at a daycare involve:

• Allergic reactions,
• Broken bones,
• Head injuries,
• Traumatic brain injuries (TBI),
• Burn injuries,
• Drowning,
• Electrocution,
• Spinal cord injuries,
• Eye injuries,
• Poisoning,
• Choking or suffocation,
• Lacerations, and
• Skull fractures.

If your child suffered any of the injuries above—or another not listed—feel free to contact our law firm. We can help guide you through your legal options after a daycare injury.

Why Do Daycare Injuries Happen?

Child care workers should supervise children closely and help them avoid injuries. Typically staff members receive information regarding any allergies the child has, what medications they need, and so on. Nonetheless, harm can unfortunately occur. Reasons your child might suffer injuries at a daycare facility include:

• Lack of supervision,
• Improperly trained workers,
• Negligent hiring,
• Unsanitary conditions,
• Inadequate communication with parents,
• A lack of first aid skills,
• Defective toys,
• Unsafe facilities,
• Too few staff to properly care for the children,
• Playground incidents.

There are many other reasons why an accident might occur at a daycare center. If your child suffered an injury while entrusted to childcare staff, our skilled attorneys are here to advocate for you.

What Should I Do After a Daycare Injury Occurs?

First, you should ensure that your child gets any medical care they need. Make sure you document their injuries and obtain copies of any medical records from the doctor.

You should then get in touch with the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning. This is the state agency that investigates injuries at daycare facilities. Contacting the state will be extremely helpful if you choose to hire a lawyer later on since it will serve as evidence of the incident. This agency has even revoked childcare center licenses in some instances. 

In the event of an accident, you can either email the agency or call their complaint number. Remember to have as many details about the accident as possible, including names and contact information.

After reaching out to the agency, you should consider contacting an experienced daycare injury attorney. We can assist you in recovering damages for your child.

How to Prove Negligence and Liability

To prove that the daycare center or its staff were negligent, you must prove four elements: duty, breach, causation, and damages.

Duty

First, you will have to show that the caregiver owed a duty of care to your child. A duty of care means the caregiver must act as a reasonable, ordinary daycare provider. For example, enrolling your child in a daycare center is a simple way to establish a duty of care.

Breach 

After establishing a duty, you must prove that there was a breach of their duty of care. One illustration of this following the above is if the staff member supervising your child is on their phone and fails to watch them on the playground. This breaches their duty of care because a reasonable daycare provider would not be on the phone while supervising children. 

Causation

You will have to show causation as the third piece of your negligence claim. Causation means that if the daycare provider had not breached their duty of care, the injury would not have occurred. For example, the staff member was distracted by scrolling on their phone while a child began playing with some scissors and injured another child’s eye. The daycare provider’s failure to supervise the child properly would likely be the cause of the other child’s eye injuries.

Damages

Lastly, there must be damages to have a negligence claim against the daycare center or staff. Your child must have suffered an injury for you to bring a lawsuit for negligence. A child who has suffered eye damage is one example of this.

All four elements must be present to bring a lawsuit for negligence. Contact our daycare injury attorneys at MG Law for assistance if you have any questions. We can investigate further and help determine whether negligence was present.

Daycare Liability Waivers

When you sign up your child for daycare, you might have to sign a waiver to enroll them. A waiver is a document that essentially claims that you waive your right to file suit if injuries occur. However, these documents are not necessarily legally binding. Businesses often use them in an attempt to escape responsibility for their actions. 

Our experienced attorneys can help you determine whether you can file a lawsuit for negligence. If so, you may be able to recover compensation even though you signed a waiver.

How an Attorney Can Help with Daycare Injuries

A daycare injury lawyer can assist you in determining if negligence was present on the part of the daycare center and its staff. In addition, if negligence is proven, we can help you to recover compensation for your child’s injuries. Damages you may be able to recover might include:

• Medical bills, 
• Physical therapy,
• Disfigurement,
• Emotional distress,
• Pain and suffering,
• Loss of enjoyment of life, and
• Lost wages due to caring for your child.

The attorneys at MG Law are here to advocate for you if your child has suffered an injury in a daycare facility. We can assist with negotiating a settlement or even taking the case to trial if needed.

Guidelines for Daycare Facilities in Georgia

When choosing a daycare facility, you must look for signs that it is meeting safety standards. They have specific licensing standards in Georgia. Some of these include the following listed below.

Equipment Guidelines

There are multiple standards in place in Georgia for equipment in daycare centers. Equipment in these facilities must be:

• Free of hazardous conditions,
• Used by appropriate age groups,
• In safe operating condition,
• Placed to minimize danger, and
• Kept clean.

Contact our lawyers today if you believe your child suffered an injury due to a failure to meet these requirements. You may be able to file a suit for negligence against the facility or its staff.

Crib Requirements

Daycare centers must meet crib guidelines to keep their license in Georgia. Some of these include the following:

• Crib sides must always be up and fastened securely if there is a child in the crib,
• There should be no restraining devices unless a physician prescribed them,
• There should be no loose plastic material in the crib,
• Every crib should have individual crib-size bedding, and
• Staff must clean cribs and mattresses before switching occupants.

These guidelines give you an idea of what to look for to verify that the daycare operates safely. You should contact our attorneys for assistance investigating whether the childcare center met these requirements.

Outdoor Play Area Requirements

Outdoor areas are also subject to regulations in Georgia. These areas must:

• Be free of hazards (such as exposed tree roots),
• Be clean and free of any garbage,
• Include shaded locations for children,
• Have anchored swinging equipment, and 
• Have any outside storage made inaccessible to children.

The cause of your child’s injury was potentially a result of a daycare center’s failure to meet these standards. We are here to help you investigate and advocate for your family. 

General Center Requirements

Daycare centers in Georgia also have overall standards they must meet. These are crucial to look out for when choosing a facility. These general center standards include:

• The center has to stay between 65 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit,
• There must be proper ventilation in the center,
• The center should be clean and free of any debris, and
• The indoor area should give children 35 square feet per child, and
• Appropriate authorities must approve water sources.

If you notice extreme crowding of the children or a lack of cleanliness, there is a possibility of negligence. There are many other guidelines in place as well for Georgia daycare centers. If your child suffered injuries at a daycare center, a daycare injury lawyer could help determine whether the daycare center violated these standards.

Liability Insurance

Surprisingly, Georgia law does not require daycare to carry insurance for potential injuries to children under their care.  According to O.C.G.A. § 20-1A-4(9), the Department of Early Care and Learning is limited to recommending formally in writing to a daycare that it is encouraged to carry a liability insurance policy. There are no consequences if a daycare facility chooses not to obtain a liability insurance policy sufficient to cover all of its clients. According to Georgia law, all daycare facilities that refuse to obtain insurance after receiving the recommendation to do so from the Department of Early Care and Learning must notify the parents whose children attend the daycare of that decision.

The daycare must give notice in two different ways. First, the daycare facility must post a written notice at the daycare in a conspicuous place. The sign must be readily visible for visitors and have letters at least ½ inches tall.

Second, the daycare facility must provide written notice to all parents by mail making them aware that there is no liability insurance policy in effect. The daycare is required to have each parent or guardian sign an acknowledgment of the lack of insurance coverage. The daycare facility must keep this written acknowledgement for as long as the child is at the daycare and for at least 12 months after the child leaves the facility. If the facility doesn’t comply with these notice requirements, they risk a fine of $1,000 per infraction.

How Our Law Firm Can Help You

Get in touch with a skilled Covington daycare injury lawyer at MG Law if your child suffered an injury while at daycare. We can help you recover the compensation that you need for your child.

Our attorney Michael Geoffroy has received numerous recognitions for his work, including a 10.0 rating on Avvo. He has also been named Rising Star, Legal Elite, and Top 40 Under 40. Our firm is also experienced in other areas of child injury law, including school and sports injuries. For a free consultation, call us or contact us online today.