Pittsburgh Daycare Injury Lawyer

Trusted Daycare Injury Attorney in Pittsburgh, PA

When you send your child to daycare, you do so with the assumption that the facility plans to put in the work required to keep them safe throughout the day until your return. An employee’s negligence can put all that in jeopardy, though. If a child of yours was hurt due to inadequate supervision or premises liability issues, you can work with a Pittsburgh daycare injury lawyer to show that the facility is liable and recover compensation.

Christopher P. Thomas

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Trust SMT Legal

You can trust the team here at SMT Legal to protect your child’s rights and your family’s interests. We have eight personal injury attorneys on our team, each of whom has the knowledge and experience required to get you real results. Respected by our peers and well-connected within the legal system, our firm has the ability to handle complex cases that other firms won’t take. Contact us to discuss the specifics of your daycare injury claim today.

Why Hire a Daycare Injury Lawyer?

There are currently 306 licensed daycare facilities in the Steel City, each of which should be expected to hold itself to high standards regarding child supervision and care. If yours did not take appropriate actions to keep your child safe, you can hire a daycare injury lawyer to help you file a legal claim against those responsible. Your lawyer can:

• File your initial claim and keep track of important deadlines.
• Gather evidence that proves one or more employees acted negligently.
• Identify 100% of the damages to make sure you get a full recovery.
• Negotiate a fair settlement with the daycare’s insurer.
• Litigate your case in court, should it go to trial, for a resolution.

Working with a daycare injury attorney is the most effective way for your family to get fairly compensated for the harm suffered by your child. Having a lawyer on your side to handle the details of your claim can also give you more time to spend supporting your family during this difficult time.

Daycare Certification Requirements

All daycares providing care for four or more children in Pennsylvania must be certified through the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS). The department regulates three categories of child care facilities:

• Child care centers. Child care centers care for seven or more unrelated children. 
• Group care homes. Group care homes care for seven to 12 children of various ages or seven to 15 children from fourth grade through 15 years of age.
• Family care child homes. Family care child homes care for four to six children who are not related to the caregiver.

All three types of daycare facilities must be certified through the DHS, which requires:

• Completing mandatory online and in-person Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) orientation training
• Obtaining background checks
• Completing mandatory health and safety training topics
• Passing local health, fire safety, and OCDEL environmental inspections
• Hiring qualified staff
• Providing ongoing training

If the facility failed to take these steps, we might be able to leverage that fact as proof of their negligence.

Understanding Daycare Liability Waivers

Daycares have parents sign liability waivers that typically include indemnity clauses stating that they are not liable for the injuries children experience while they are being cared for. It’s important to note that these liability waivers do not protect daycares against negligence claims under Pennsylvania daycare injury laws. 

If you can prove that an employee, or the daycare itself, was acting negligently and that careless act caused your child’s injuries, you may still have cause to file a case. Proving negligence requires showing:

1. The daycare center owed you and your child a duty of diligence.
2. An employee or the daycare itself failed to uphold that duty.
3. Your child was harmed directly because of that failure.
4. Your child sustained compensable damages.

We can help prove these four elements of a negligence-based claim by collecting evidence, especially testimony from a witness, obtaining medical records, hiring expert witnesses, and constructing a robust case on behalf of your child.

Common Causes of Injuries in Daycare Settings

Some injuries are unavoidable, as might be the case with a child who trips and falls during supervised play. However, many daycare injuries are caused by the actions or inaction of the staff or the daycare facility. Common causes of injuries in daycare settings can include:

• Low staff-to-child ratios
• Unsafe products, such as cribs or toys
• Burns caused by hot radiators
• Playground accidents
• Lack of adequate supervision

If an individual daycare worker placed your child in a dangerous position and led to their becoming injured, you might hold not just that worker but also the facility itself liable thanks to the theory of vicarious liability. Employers are responsible for the actions of their employees when they are on the clock and working in an official capacity.

Common Injuries Sustained Due to Negligent Supervision

Children can get themselves into a lot of trouble if they are not properly supervised. Some common daycare injuries include:

• Broken bones. Broken bones often happen due to slips and falls and playground accidents.
• Suffocation or choking. Suffocation or choking can cause brain injuries that can affect the development of the child as well as their quality of their life. They can happen due to negligent supervision at mealtimes or during play.
• Burns. If children can reach hot surfaces, electrical equipment, or hot liquids, it can cause serious burns.
• Allergic reactions. When parents enroll their children in a daycare, they provide information about specific food or drink restrictions and medications. If daycare workers ignore those instructions, it can cause allergic reactions.
• Poisoning. If children can access medications, poisonous cleaning products, or inappropriate foods, they can ingest these substances, leading to serious health complications.
• Sexual abuse. Negligent hiring practices and a failure to conduct thorough background checks can leave your child in the hands of a predator. If sexual abuse occurs, you should contact an attorney with experience in this area who can help file a case against the daycare center.

In extreme cases, daycare injuries can start wrongful death claims. If a child of yours was killed because of a daycare worker’s negligence, we can help hold that person and the facility they worked for accountable for the pain they have caused.

FAQs

How Can You Start a Case Naming a Daycare Center for Hurting Your Child?

You can file a case naming a daycare center for hurting your child with the help of a Pittsburgh daycare injury attorney. Your attorney can help with everything from filing the initial claim to gathering evidence to support it and taking your case to court if the daycare’s insurer is unwilling to make a reasonable settlement offer.

Are Daycares Liable for Injuries?

Daycares are liable for injuries when they result from employee or employer negligence, negligent supervision, or a failure to maintain a safe environment for the children. Examples include wet floors, broken playground equipment, unsecured cleaning chemicals, negligent hiring, and ignoring written allergy instructions or failing to give the correct medications. Daycares may not be liable for normal unavoidable accidents.

What Happens if One of My Children Is Hurt in Daycare?

If a child of yours gets hurt in daycare, the facility should inform you and get your child the medical attention they need right away. You can then decide whether to pursue a legal claim against the facility for negligence based on how the accident that injured your child occurred and whether the daycare might be held responsible for it.

How Much Can You Get For Physical Pain or Emotional Suffering in PA?

How much you can get for physical distress and emotional suffering in PA varies. While no strict legal formula for calculating physical distress and emotional suffering exists in the Keystone State, courts often use either the multiplier or the per diem method. These methods for calculating physical distress and emotional suffering take into account the amount of your economic damages and the length of time you spent recovering, respectively. They can both be applied to children in daycare negligence cases.

What Are the Hardest Daycare Injuries to Prove?

The hardest daycare injuries to prove are those that are invisible, produce delayed symptoms, or cause physical marks that mimic those left by everyday accidents. Psychological and emotional trauma is particularly hard to prove when injuries occur to young children, because toddlers and babies cannot articulate their complex feelings of fear or anxiety, and these injuries leave no physical evidence.

Having a skilled lawyer with experience taking on complex daycare injury cases can help.

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Your Pittsburgh Daycare Injury Lawyer

If you’re looking for a Pittsburgh daycare injury lawyer to take on a complex case, the team here at SMT Legal can help. 

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We provide the personalized attention of a boutique law firm paired with the high-level legal experience of multiple lawyers. We consistently achieve impressive results for our clients and are used to taking on complex, high-stakes litigation.

Our firm was built in Pittsburgh by attorneys graduating from Point Park University, and our office is located conveniently near the campus. You can call attorney Christopher Thomas at 412-448-6887 or get in touch with us to set up an initial consultation.