Our Los Angeles Child Injury Attorney Will Determine Liability
When it comes to legal responsibility regarding your child being injured at school, it ultimately depends on how and where the injury happened. These types of cases are extremely complex, and it is very important that you get in contact with a Los Angeles child injury attorney if your child was a victim.
If your child was injured while they were at school or during a school-related activity, it is natural as a parent to want to know who will be held legally responsible for your child’s injuries. The answers to this question vary exponentially, as they are dependent on the facts and the circumstances of how it happened.
Was the Act Intentional or Negligent?
This is a very important question that needs to be answered, as it determines who is responsible for the injury.
Intentional torts may include the act of bullying, where a child is physically hurt by another student. Additionally, it may take the form of harm inflicted by an adult. For instance, an adult employee or a school bus driver hurt a student.
When a student is bullied, the parents of the offending student may be held responsible for failing to give their child the appropriate training or supervision.
These types of issues are very complex, and they may even overlap with the act of negligence. For instance, the injury that your child sustained was not the result of an intentional act, but was an “accident.” Whatever the case may be, then an accident is typically caused by some type of failure on behalf of the school or other entity.
What Constitutes Negligence by a School?
When children are at school, it is the school’s responsibility to make sure that they provide care for the children almost just as much as parents would. Schools are legally responsible to prove shelter, food, transportation, and a generally safe environment for the children who attend the school.
If a school fails to meet these standards of care and the student is injured due to lack of care, then the school can be held responsible for being negligent.
Here are some examples of how these injuries can occur:
School Bus Accidents
Negligence of the bus driver/school district employee
Lack of training of the driver by the school district
Poorly maintained bus
Negligence of the other driver involved in a school bus accident
Playground Injuries
Lack of supervision by the school’s employees
Poorly maintained or defective playground equipment, resulting from lack of maintenance by the school or faulty design by the manufacturer
Food Poisoning
Poor food preparation or storage by employees
Contaminated food by an outside vendor
Slip and Fall
Loose handrails not maintained by the school or improperly installed by the construction company
A slip and fall resulting from the school or landscaping company’s failure to keep the sidewalks maintained
Exposure to Asbestos
This can occur in older buildings that fail to maintain resolving an asbestos issue Injuries During Sports or Playtime
Lack of supervision by employees
Defective equipment resulting in an injury caused by the manufacturer
Is the School Public or Private?
There is a difference when filing a claim against your child’s school and it is dependent on whether it is public or private.
If your child’s school is public, then it is considered to be a government entity under the state law. When the school is public, there are very strict protocols that you must follow if you plan to file a claim or lawsuit for the incident. These rules are usually determined by the state legislature.
If your child’s school is private, then the organization that you would bring a claim or lawsuit against could be a non-profit organization, a local diocese, or a synagogue. When it comes to private schools, there is not a certain protocol that you have to follow as you would if it was a public school. If your child was injured due to an intentional act or negligent act at their private school, you can file a claim in your specific state’s civil court system.
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