Can a Day Care Center Be Held Liable for the Rough Handling of a Child by a Day Care Worker?

By  Jonathan Safran Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney

In Wisconsin and other states, parents rely on day care centers for the supervision of their children during the work day.  In most instances, a child is cared for in a supportive and educational environment.   However, there are also plenty of day care workers who lack the patience, personality, and temperament to properly care for small children. For instance, let’s say that a child is not responding to instructions or commands.  Some day care providers will then pull, shove, or push a child to get them going.   The rough handling or assault of a child can and does lead to serious personal injuries including bruising, fractures, lacerations, and even internal injuries.  Children, especially infants and toddlers, are susceptible to injury any time that they are pulled, pushed, shoved or grabbed.  When an adult pulls on a child’s arm, there can be a dislocation, fracture or other injury.  It is certainly not an easy task to supervise and monitor children; however, this does not excuse a day care center worker from rough handling a child under the supervision of the worker and the day care center.

In Racine, Wisconsin, an incident that took place at One Step Ahead Day Care Center resulted in the termination of an employee, the arrest of an employee, and injuries to a 3 year old child. It was reported that a day care worker picked the child up by the child’s wrist / arm and carried the child by the arm for a distance of 11 feet without the child touching the ground.  The incident was captured on video.  The owner of the day care center took quick action in response to this incident and terminated the employee.  Can the day care center be held liable for the actions of this child care worker?  There may be a case to pursue against the day care center since a day care center may be held liable for the actions of its employees.   Issues that may arise in a potential case of this nature may include the prior conduct of the employee, the training of the employee, the supervision of the employee, and other factors.  You can read more about this incident at Child Reportedly Injured at Racine Wisconsin Day Care Center.

The book titled – The ABCs of Child Injury – Legal Rights of the Injured Child – What Every Parent Should Know – has chapters on Day Care Center Injuries, School Injuries, Playground Injuries, Automobile Accidents, and other topics. You can get this book for free at The ABCs of Child Injury.