Boston Personal Injury Attorney Blog
According to recent news form WRAL, authorities arrested a 25-year-old woman who was working at daycare facility. Police charged her with intentional child abuse involving the infliction of serious physical injury. Specifically, she is alleged to have broken the arm of a one-year-old child this past November.
Another family using the daycare center pulled their child out as soon as they learned of this recent arrest. They believe the same defendant injured their child two months before this most recent incident. In that first incident, family members say their child came home with serious scratches on her back. The defendant had written an incident report in which she claimed that another child had become very excited and scratched their daughter on the back. However, child’s family does not believe another child could have scratched their daughter in such a manner.
These parents say they told management at the daycare center of their concerns another child could not have been the one who made the large scratches, but they claim management did not believe them and did not follow up with the woman who is now in police custody following the broken arm incident. They said they would look into it, but apparently nothing was ever done. First, it should be noted that defendant is presumed innocent unless and until she is found guilty of any charges in connection with this recent arrest. It should also be noted that nobody has been found to be negligent with respect to either of these incidents.
In a daycare injury case, one of the issues that may arise is whether the daycare center knew or should have known that their employee was a danger to children at the center. There are a variety of ways one would have actual knowledge of a danger, such as seeing a criminal background check, or being told of another incident of violence in the past. If worker had a criminal history, and the center did not run his or her record prior to hiring the employee, this would likely fall into the category of a danger they should have known about.
In a case where another parent told the daycare provider of an incident and the center failed to act and still allowed the suspected employee to work there without conducting an investigation, they might be liable for a tort known as negligent retention of any employee. When they initially hired the employee who injured a child, if they were negligent in ignoring or overlooking a questionable history, the daycare provider might be liable for a tort known as negligent hiring. There is also a tort typically filed in Boston daycare injury cases known as negligent supervision of an employee.
In daycare injury cases, the plaintiff will likely sue the employee personally and also the daycare provider. While it is unlikely that anyone working at daycare has a significant amount of money to pay a verdict or settle a case, by suing that worker, plaintiff will have the ability to also sue the worker’s employer. It is far more likely that the daycare provider will have enough insurance to cover any damages.
If you are injured in Boston, call Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers for a free and confidential appointment — (617) 777-7777.
Additional Resources:
Couple says daughter was injured by Raleigh day care worker, January 12, 2016, WRAL
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