Articles Posted in State Specific Articles

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Restaurant-300x282There are common types of personal injury accidents or incidents that take place just about every day in any given geographic region – playground accidents, automobile accidents, bicycle accidents, and day care center incidents.   Then again, there are the not so common incidents that seem to be rare or one of a kind incidents.  Whether an accident or incident is common or rare, the same elements apply to establish a legal case or claim against another person, business, property owner, or government entity.  Here are the elements:

Duty;

Breach of Duty;

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Boating-Accident-and-Personal-Injuries-300x121Children are at risk for injury on land, air, and sea.  It is important for all adults in charge of supervising children to act in the best interest of children.  When an adult supervisor of a child is negligent, serious personal injuries can result.  For just about every situation there is a duty to act reasonably.  When this duty is breached, there can be lifelong injuries that result and even the untimely and tragic death of a a child.  There is a duty to act reasonably on the part of professionals / businesses including those connected to a day care center, school, summer camp, after school program, athletic program, and other locations / activities. There is also a duty to act reasonably for individuals who are not connected with a business or facility including parents, relatives, neighbors, family friends, and those who agree to by explicit or implicit terms to supervise children during a particular activity, event, or time period.
In Louisiana, a horrific incident was reported to take place on the Old Sabine River in the vicinity of Niblett’s Bluff Park.  Three boys were riding a tube being pulled by a bass boat.  The operator of the boat took a turn that resulted in the tube swinging out and hitting the side of the river bank.  All three boys were ejected from the tube.  One of the boys – 8 year old Damian Haines – was airlifted to West Calcasieu Hospital where he was later reported to be dead from what appears to be trauma related injuries.  The other two boys suffered injuries but not as serious as Damian Haines.  The operator of the boat was arrested as a result of this incident and charged with a number of serious crimes including intoxication, vehicular homicide, and reckless operation of a watercraft.  You can read more about this incident at Boating – Tubing Accident Leads to Death of 8 Year Old Boy in Louisiana.
It should be noted that the pursuit of a personal injury case can be based on simple negligence.  The acts do not need to be reckless in nature per se.  It should also be noted that the pursuit of a personal injury case will depend in part on the available liability insurance in place.  Many personal injury attorneys limit their respective caseloads to cases with liability insurance in place or a Defendant with the financial means to pay out a settlement or judgment.  Many large businesses are self insured which means that the business chooses to be responsible for the injuries or deaths that take place during business operation that are the result of the negligence of the business and / or its employees.  For instance, Wal-Mart Stores are mostly self insured which means that Wal-Mart does not carry liability insurance.
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Toy-Blocks-E-A-300x226In Nevada and other states, a child enrolled in a day care center should be provided with a supportive educational environment free from abuse, neglect, and corporal punishment. Unfortunately, far too many children are harmed by the very caregivers supposed trained and skilled to provide proper supervision for children at the day care center.  It should also be noted that many such instances go unreported, unnoticed, and essentially ignored unless somebody speaks out on behalf of the child.  Often, it is the parent that steps up to advocate for his or her child.
It was recently reported in Nevada that a day care center worker threw a child to the floor.   The child reported the incident to her mother who then demanded to see the video surveillance for the facility.  The video surveillance from the K.I.D.S. Academy located in Henderson, Nevada shows the child care provider first picking up the child by the arms.  The day care center worker then returns just seconds later and throws the girl more forcefully and the child’s face hits the floor.  Incidents like these can and often do lead to serious head injuries.   Without the push from the parent and the availability of the video surveillance, these incidents tragically get “swept under the rug” without any civil, administrative, or criminal action.   Once the video surveillance was viewed by the facility and the parent, the matter was reported to the Henderson Police Department which, in turn, arrested the day care worker for criminal charges of child abuse. You can read more about this story at Video Surveillance Leads to Arrest of Day Care Center Worker in Henderson Nevada. 
Similar to the majority of other states, corporal punishment and physical abuse are prohibited in licensed Nevada day care centers. Pursuant to Nevada Administrative Code – NAC 432A.400 Discipline – a licensed day care center has a duty to enhance a child’s behavior through positive guidance and redirection.  A day care center worker shall not under any circumstances inflict physical punishment in any manner on the child or verbal abuse or threaten the child.
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By David Wolf, Child Injury Lawyer
Crib-and-Nap-Time-Day-Care-Center-276x300Parents rely on day care centers to provide a safe educational environment for their children. Tragically, children suffer serious personal injuries and even fatal injuries at the very place where the children are supposed to be protected – the day care center.  At times, other children in the day care center are violent and unstable.  It is important that day care centers closely monitor all children in the day care center. If a child is exhibiting strange, dangerous, or disturbing behavior, it should be addressed right away.  For the protection and safety of the children enrolled in the day care center, a child, with dangerous tendencies or propensities, can and should be removed from the day care center.  The local licensing agency can also step in if there is a problem with the parents of the “problem child”.  It is vital that the day care center act in a timely manner to prevent injuries at all times possible.  Unfortunately, many day care centers ignore the problem or gloss over the problem rather than take action to protect the children in the day care center.
In Michigan, it was reported that a 14 month old toddler died a day care center by an 8 year old girl with a history of odd behavior.  The toddler (Korey Brown) was crying in his crib.  Then, the 8 year old took him out of the crib, bit him in the face, and kicked the toddler.  The 8 year old girl had a number of issues.  It is suspected by the family of Korey Brown that the day care center knew or should have known about the odd behavior and should have taken action to protect Korey Brown.   At the time of the attack, there were no adults present in the room.  As such, it appears that the 8 year old was left unsupervised in a room with younger children in the room including Korey Brown. You can read more about this story at Girl Kills Toddler at Michigan Day Care Center. 
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By David Wolf – Child Injury Lawyer
Building-Blocks-300x170In day care centers across the nation, parents rely on child care workers to provide a safe and nurturing educational environment for children.  For most children, the day is filled with activities, classes, and all around excellent care.  However, at some facilities, children are unfortunately the victim of abuse, neglect, and molestation.  Some child care workers just lack the training, experience, common sense, and patience to properly supervise children.  The local and state day care regulations should be followed.  Beyond the rules and regulation, common sense can go a long way in the proper care of infants, toddlers, and young children.
In most States, corporal punishment is outlawed or banned in day care centers.  Some day care workers still implement corporal punishment measures to supervise and / or punish children under their care.  Corporal punishment is typically refers to some form of physical punishment, assault, or restraint of a child.  It should be noted that many religious based day care centers are exempt from local and state day care regulations.  As such, corporal punishment tends to be utilized on a regular basis in some exempt facilities.  It should also be noted that if a child is injured as a result of corporal punishment to the point the marks are left or medical care is required – there can still be action taken against the day care center even if the day care center is exempt from the applicable child care rules and regulations.
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By David Wolf, Child Injury Lawyer
https://www.childinjurylawyerblog.com/files/2017/07/Trampoline-Jumping.001-219x300.jpegIn Louisiana and other States, trampoline parks are operating in many communities.  Originally thought as a save way to place in a controlled air conditioned environment. There are more and more stories and reports of injuries taking place at trampoline parks.  When a child is injured a a trampoline park, a child may be entitled to compensation if it can be established that the trampoline park / business was negligent in some manner which, in turn, caused the injuries.  Like other personal injury cases, there are four essential elements to prove:
Duty;
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By David Wolf, Child Injury Lawyer
Playground-300x188In Oregon and other States, there are dangers in day care centers. Certainly, having a license is a good “sign” for a day care center. That means that the day care center has complied (in most cases) with the State’s minimum mandatory requirements and otherwise has acted in a manner that has enabled the day care center to maintain its license and ability to operate as a facility in good standing.  However, it should be noted that a day care center license does not mean that a day care center is an absolutely safe haven for a child enrolled in the program.  The truth of the matter is that day care centers and its employees have an ongoing duty and responsibility to provide constant and reasonable supervision of the children under the care of the day care center.
It was recently reported by Oregon media sources that there are dangers in Oregon day care centers.  There were a number of examples noted in the article including a day care center that allowed an autistic child to walk out of facility and into the potential harm of traffic, another day care center that allowed a young child to play on a climbing wall with a lanyard on the child both of which presented a significant risks of handling, a fall, and asphyxiation.  There are other examples mentioned in the article as well.  You can read more about the dangers in Oregon day care centers along with comments about the regulations that have become somewhat stagnant at Dangers and Risks of Personal Injuries in Oregon Day Care Centers. 
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By David Wolf, Child Injury Lawyer

Video-Surveillance-300x300

Day care centers are commonly used by families all over the country.  Parents assume that children are being cared for in a supportive learning environment by caring child care providers. Child care workers are expected to be responsible, dependable, and patient.  Training should be completed pursuant to state and local day care regulations for each worker to to being officially employed by the day care center.

Video surveillance at a day care center can help document many incidents that in the past were “swept under the rug” or hidden by the day care center.  Without the benefit of video surveillance, many incidents of child abuse were kept quiet. Day care center workers would claim ignorance, “I do not know what happened.”  Alternatively, the day care center worker would make up a story, “Johnny fell while running on the playground.”

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By David Wolf, Child Injury Lawyer

Duct-Tape-300x202In day care centers in Missouri and across the nation, children are unfortunately subjected to various forms of corporal punishment in day care centers.  Most states have a prohibition according to the day care center government regulations against corporal punishment.  Despite these regulations, some day care center workers, for some reason or no reason at all, subject a child to corporal punishment.

In St. Louis, Missouri, there was a lawsuit filed against the Zion Lutheran Church, its daycare, and its employees, for the alleged abuse of a four-year-old girl. It was reported that the teacher at the daycare wrapped the child’s legs in duct tape after saying “I have some shiny red duct tape with your name on it.” The child admitted to running around when she was supposed to be napping, which is said to be the reason the teacher put duct tape on her legs in the first place. After the tape was put on, another member of the staff told her the tape would be removed when she behaved, which shows it was intended as a means of punishment. When the parents addressed the situation to staff, the situation was laughed over, and comments were made about how hyper their daughter can be.  It was reported that the daycare teacher has been said to have used duct tape as a means of controlling a child with two much energy. As a result, this family’s lawsuit alleges false imprisonment and assault, among other things, and is seeking over $25,000 in damages.  It should be noted that many courts have jurisdictional amounts or thresholds. In other words, an action can be pursued in a particular court if the amount in controversy if over a certain amount of money.  As such, in many cases, it is difficult to determine from the pleadings alone the amount that is ultimately being sought by the plaintiff / family of the injured child.

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By David Wolf, Child Injury Lawyer

Day-Care-Playground-300x233Day care centers are commonly used by a families in need of child care due to work or personal commitments.  There are millions of single parent households and dual income households which necessitate the use of day care centers / child care centers to supervise children during the work day.  When a parent or guardian checks their child in to a day care center, they are putting their trust in a facility that should be trustworthy. The day care should be providing an environment which is safe and comforting for the parent, consisting of abundant supervision. It is reasonable for parents and guardians to expect that a day care center will provide a safe, loving, and educational environment for their children.  Personal injuries result from carelessness, negligence, and just a lack of common sense in many instances in day care centers.  Furthermore, some injuries result from intentional acts and let’s face it – just the shear stupidity of some child care providers who, at times, put their own interests ahead of those of the children.   In New Jersey, it was reported that two day care workers were encouraged and filmed a  Fight Club type of activity with the children enrolled in the day care center. Certainly, it is careless and reckless to encourage children to fight at a day care center or any other school or summer camp.

There are four elements that must be established for a strong claim against a day care center:

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