Georgia Daycare Injury Lawsuits and Settlements

Daycares have an obligation to provide reasonable care and supervision of children. If a child is seriously injured because a daycare facility’s negligence, parents can bring a personal injury case against the daycare. On this page, our lawyers will explain the basics of Georgia daycare injury lawsuits. We will discuss when parents can sue a daycare for injuries in Georgia and what the potential settlement value of these cases could be. We will also summarize settlements and verdicts in recent Georgia daycare injury cases.

When Can Parents Sue a Daycare for Injuries to a Child?

Daycares and other childcare facilities in Georgia have a legal duty to provide reasonable supervision to children under their care Daycares also have an obligation to hire, train and supervise employees, and ensure that the daycare premises is safe for children. When daycare facilities negligent these duties and a child is injured as a result, they can be held liable in a civil lawsuit.

To bring a successful daycare lawsuit, parents only need to establish 3 things: (1) the daycare owed a duty to the child, (2) the daycare negligently breached that duty, and (3) the breach of that duty directly caused injury to the child.

Common Injuries in Daycare Negligence Cases

Young children hurt and injure themselves very frequently. That is exactly why kids need to be put in daycare facilities in the first place, because they can’t take care of themselves. There is really no limit to the types of injuries that can happen to a child at a daycare facility. However, there are certain categories or types of daycare injuries that frequently give rise to daycare lawsuits because they are often the result of negligent care or supervision. There are also certain categories of daycare negligence that frequently arise in these cases. The list below summarizes so of the most common types of daycare injury cases in Georgia.

Playground Injuries: Injuries on playground or outdoor recreation equipment at daycare facilities are the most common source of daycare injury lawsuits. Playground injuries are usually the result of negligent supervision by daycare staff, or unsafe playground equipment.
Self-Inflicted Harms: Toddlers and babies can easily hurt themselves if not constantly supervised. Putting something dangerous in their mouth, touching something dangerous, or any number of other scenarios are possible. Protecting young children from hurting themselves is the primary duty of a daycare.
Harm from Other Children: Children in daycare facilities can be hurt by other children in the daycare, either intentionally or unintentionally. The daycare has an obligation to protect children from each other.
Abuse: Sadly, many children in daycare facilities become victims of physical or sexual abuse. Often the perpetrators of the abuse are the daycare employees themselves.
Transportation Injuries: Daycares have a duty to keep children safe from car, buses and other vehicles.
Premises Hazards: Daycares need to make sure that their facility is safe and secure and that there are no hidden dangers that could potentially harm children.

Common Types of Daycare Injury Lawsuits

Daycare negligence can come in a variety of shapes and forms. There are, however, certain types or categories of negligence by daycare that are very common. Described below are the most common types of negligence that we see in daycare injury cases.

Negligent Supervision of Children

Providing adequate supervision of the children is the primary obligation of all daycare providers and facilities. If a daycare fails to provide reasonable supervision they can be held liable for any resulting harm or injuries. So what constitutes “negligent supervision” at a daycare? There really is no hard-and-fast rule or definition for negligent daycare supervision. Whether a daycare provides reasonable supervision is determined on a case-by-case basis based on the facts and circumstances.

Below are several obvious examples of daycare negligence that can be used to help illustrate the concept of negligent supervision.

A daycare teacher lets the children go outside and play on the playground. Instead of going out to supervise them, the teacher is inside checking her social media accounts on her computer. Meanwhile, a toddler climbs too high on the playground equipment, falls and breaks his leg requiring multiple surgeries.
A child at a daycare facility is severely allergic to peanuts. The child’s parents have notified the daycare about this condition, but new staff members at the daycare were not always notified. One of the staff members allows the child to eat a peanut bar resulting in serious injuries.
Daycare employees leave highly toxic chemicals in an unlocked and accessible location and a child swallows the chemicals and suffers brain damage.

Outside of these sorts of obvious situations, reasonable supervision at a daycare can be a very imprecise concept. At a minimum, reasonable supervision means the daycare facility needs to adequately monitor each child for potential dangers and appropriately intervene to eliminate any threats or dangers that do emerge.

Negligent Hiring, Retention, or Training of Daycare Staff

Another common type of negligence claim in daycare injury lawsuits related to negligence in the hiring, retaining, and training of staff at the daycare. Daycares need to take reasonable steps to screen potential employees for potential warning signs that the applicant is not fit to work at a daycare. This could include background checks and reference checks.

Once employees are hired, the daycare management needs to adopt diligent supervision of staff members and take immediate action if there are any warning signs that they may be unfit to supervise children. Daycares can also be held liable for negligently failing to properly train and instruct their employees. Below is a common example of staff-related negligence at a daycare.

Lets say Jane is hired to be a teacher at Acme daycare in Atlanta. Jane has a clean background, but after a few months on the job Acme has received several complaints about Jane physically restraining children. Acme is understaffed so they don’t fire Jane. She later assaults a toddler and causes serious injuries.

Premises Liability for Daycares

Daycare facilities can also be held liable under a premises liability theory if they fail to maintain a safe facility. For example, let’s say the daycare has old playground equipment that is falling apart and becoming potentially dangerous to children. Even if the daycare provides reasonable supervision at all times, they could still be liable under premises liability if a child is injured due to the hazardous condition of the playground.

Settlement Value of Georgia Daycare Injury Lawsuits

The settlement value of Georgia daycare injury lawsuits will depend on a number of different factors. The factor that has the most impact on the potential value of a case is the severity of the child’s physical injuries. Cases involving more serious injuries will always have a much higher value than those involving minor injuries.

Another factor that can drive the value of daycare injury cases is the type and level of negligence on the part of the daycare. If the daycare is guilty of egregious or gross negligence, juries may have an emotional reaction and punish them with big verdicts.

Georgia Daycare Injury Settlements and Verdicts

Below are summaries of verdicts and reported settlements in recent daycare injury cases in Georgia. These cases are provided for informational purposes only, but they give valuable insights into the potential compensation payouts that plaintiffs can get in these cases.

$48,000 Settlement (Cobb County): The plaintiffs enrolled their 4-year-old daughter is preschool at the defendant Great Expectations Child Development Center, a daycare center located in Kennesaw, GA. The lawsuit alleged that the daughter was routinely subjected to physical and mental harm and abuse at the facility, including being struck in the head with a shoe, locked in the bathroom for a toilet accident, and physically restrained on her sleeping mat.

$1,000,000 Verdict (Gwinnett County): 8-week-old male died while in the care of the defendant daycare center when they put him down for a nap and placed him on his stomach. The plaintiff contended that the daycare failed to properly hire, train and supervise its employees, failed to provide reasonable supervision to ensure the safety of the minor children entrusted to its care and failed to provide the proper standard of care. The daycare claimed that the decedent was properly supervised, that his death was due to natural causes and that its care of the decedent was within acceptable standards at all times.

$575,000 Verdict (Fulton County): A 4-year-old daycare student reportedly was in the swimming pool area at Gems Learning Academy II, a daycare facility in Union City, Ga., when he told his teacher that he needed to use the restroom. The teacher sent him into the bathroom unsupervised to change his clothes, then also allow 2 other students in the bathroom at the same time. One of the other students sexually assaulted the boy in the bathroom. The parents sued the daycare for negligent supervision and a jury in Atlanta awarded $575,000.

$38,000 Settlement (Fayette County): The plaintiff’s minor son. J.G., was enrolled in daycare at Magnolia Park Daycare Center Inc. in Fayetteville, GA. Employees at the daycare allegedly “mishandled” J.G. resulting in him suffering a broken right arm. Lawsuit alleged negligent hiring and supervision of employees.

$15,000 Settlement (DeKalb County): An 8-month-old male suffered emotional distress and dehydration when he was left in a locked van without supervision by staff at the daycare facility where he was enrolled. The plaintiff contended that the daycare failed to properly hire, train, and supervise its employees with access to its minor students, failed to keep a list of children placed in the daycare van, and failed to properly inspect the van to ensure all of the children were removed.

Hire a Georgia Daycare Injury Lawyer

If you have a personal injury case against a daycare or childcare facility in Georgia, contact our personal injury lawyers today for a free consultation. Call us at 800-553-8082 or contact us online.