This week, our firm finalized a settlement on behalf of a family whose child was sexually assaulted by an older child at a daycare. While the identities of the family and daycare center must remain confidential under the terms of the settlement, we succeeded in getting a significant six-figure award for their child because we were able to prove that the sexual assault was caused by the daycare staff’s failure to properly supervise the children.
Under Georgia law, daycare centers and other childcare providers have to meet certain standards in caring for children and keeping them safe, not just from dangerous objects, but from each other. The daycare in this case failed to do that when its staff inexcusably allowed an older boy to go in the bathroom with our client’s child, alone. Had the staff been paying attention, it might have been able to prevent a sexual assault.
After our clients hired us, we sent the daycare center a demand letter explaining how its negligent staff members were responsible for the assault on our client’s child. Of course, the daycare center’s insurance company didn’t want to settle, despite the shocking nature of the incident. And when they finally did, their offer was low.
We were able to obtain a higher settlement for our clients by taking the same approach in this case that we take in all of our daycare injury cases—we launched our own investigation into the incident while the State investigated the daycare center through the Bright from the Start program. Our investigation revealed that the daycare center violated its policy against letting more than one child in the bathroom at a time. We were also able to show that this daycare center had failed to prevent a prior sexual assault between two other unsupervised children. The State’s investigation, for its part, concluded that the daycare center failed to provide “watchful oversight” over our client’s child.
Faced with all of this evidence, and knowing that our experienced Georgia daycare injury attorneys are always ready to go to trial, the daycare center chose to settle this case at an amount our client was satisfied with. Importantly, we were able to obtain this fair settlement without our client’s or their child having to endure a trial, which could have been traumatic for them.
As the results of this case show, our firm knows what it takes to help parents get justice for their children. If your child has been injured at a daycare center, call our firm to speak with one of our experienced attorneys. We will be open and honest about your case, and the call is free.
