Minneapolis Daycare Abuse Lawyers

When daycare center staff members are careless or abusive toward the children under their care, children can suffer severe or even life-threatening injuries. Abuse, whether physical or sexual, can leave a child emotionally scarred for the rest of his or her life.

When a child suffers abuse or is neglected at a daycare center, it is important for parents to discuss the situation with a licensed attorney. The Minneapolis daycare abuse lawyers at TSR Injury Law offer a free initial consultation to discuss your situation and determine if you may be eligible for legal action. We know compensation can never erase what happened, but it can be an important part of the process of moving forward. Taking legal action could also help protect other children from abuse.

Partner Rich Ruohonen recovered $13.5 million on behalf of a three-year-old boy who was physically and sexually assaulted at a daycare center in Minnesota. Ruohonen was selected to Minnesota Super Lawyers each year from 2003 to 2018.

Our attorneys do not collect any upfront fees for providing legal services. We do not get paid unless our clients do first.

You can contact our firm any time, day or night by phone, online case form or live chat.

Call TSR Injury Law to discuss possible legal options. (612) TSR-TIME

Who Could be Held Liable for Daycare Abuse or Negligence?

One of the many factors our attorneys need to consider when determining if you may have a case is who could be held liable for your child’s injuries and damages.

The perpetrator of the abuse may not be the only one liable. The administrator of the facility could also have some liability, in addition to the company or individual who owns the facility.

To prove liability for a personal injury, our attorneys generally need to establish the four elements of negligence:

• Duty of care – Your attorney must establish the at-fault party or parties owed your child a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent him or her from getting injured. Generally, once you have entered into an agreement to pay a facility to watch your child, a duty of care has been established. Reasonable steps might include following daycare regulations or employing enough staff members to watch all the children.
• Breach of duty of care – This means the at-fault party failed to uphold a duty owed to your child. For example, maybe he or she violated state regulations on daycare facilities and the care they are supposed to provide to children. Maybe the administrator of the facility hired someone who was unqualified or allowed the facility to be understaffed.
• Causation – Our Minneapolis daycare abuse lawyers must show a link between the breached duty of care and the injuries that occurred – the injuries would not have occurred unless the duty of care was breached.
• Damages – You must show your child suffered economic or non-economic damages (medical bills, pain and suffering, etc.).

You can discuss your situation in a free initial consultation. Call our firm today at (612) TSR-TIME.

Are Daycare Centers Shielded from Liability?

When you chose a daycare center for your child, you probably had to sign a liability waiver which said the provider is not liable for injuries that occur on the property. This causes some parents to believe they cannot pursue a claim against the facility if their child gets hurt because of negligence.

However, these waivers often do not hold up in court. It is not reasonable for facilities to avoid any responsibility for injuries to children.

If your child was abused or neglected, it is important to discuss the situation with a qualified attorney to learn about possible legal options.

Why Abuse and Neglect Occur at Daycare Centers

There are many reasons why abuse and neglect can happen, and they may give parents of abused children grounds to take legal action.

Some of these reasons could include:

• Understaffing – If the daycare does not have enough staff members to monitor all the children, a child could get into a dangerous situation and get hurt. There could be situations where one child physically abuses another, and staffers allow it to happen because no employees were aware it was happening. Young children could put things in their mouths and choke because no one was watching.
• Unqualified staff – Staff members may not have been properly trained or have the required qualifications. For example, if a staff member is not qualified to give a child a medication, he or she could commit a medication error and put the child’s life in danger. A child could also suffer an injury that becomes much worse than it should because staff members do not handle it properly, such as by not providing proper first aid.
• Violations of safety regulations – There are various safety regulations that apply to a daycare center, including fire safety regulations and regulations on the treatment of children being cared for. If regulations were violated and your child was injured because of it, you may have grounds for legal action.
• Negligent supervision – This could be because of understaffing, but it could also be because staff members simply did not do their jobs and watch the children carefully enough.
• Poor security – The facility needs to be secure to prevent people who are not supposed to be in there from getting inside and potentially harming the children. Staff members also need to be sure children cannot leave and put themselves in harm’s way.

If your child suffered abuse or neglect that you believe could have and should have been prevented, call our Minneapolis daycare abuse lawyers for a free consultation. We are here to help.

Minnesota Regulations for Daycare Centers

Minnesota has many regulations for daycare centers that are designed to keep children safe and ensure they are being properly cared for. If regulations are not followed and children suffer injuries, our attorneys may be able to cite these regulations to help bolster your case.

Under Minnesota Administrative Rules Part 9503.0010, a daycare program is a child care program during normal waking hours, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. The program must operate more than 30 days in a 12-month period, providing care to children.

Minnesota requires daycare facilities to be licensed, unless the facility is of a type that is specifically excluded from licensing requirements by law. It is a misdemeanor to operate an unlicensed program and a court order can be obtained to stop the facility from operating if:

• The people in charge of the facility failed to apply for a license after receiving notice a license is required
• The facility was still in operation after a license was revoked or suspended and a final order was issued confirming the revocation or suspension
• The facility was still in operation after a temporary suspension had been issued

Minnesota also has specific regulations on what a daycare facility must have, including things like:

• Space for children who become sick
• Outdoor activity area
• Shielding of hot surfaces like radiators, fireplaces, hot pipes and other hot surfaces
• Shielding of electrical outlets
• One toilet and hand sink for each 15 children, sinks cannot be used for custodial work or food preparation

Daycare facilities must also follow state regulations in disciplining of children. Staff members cannot subject children to physical punishment, such as:

Emotion abuse is also prohibited:

• Name calling
• Shaming
• Threatening or humiliating language

Children cannot be separated from the group unless staff members have tried less intrusive methods of guiding the child’s behavior.

Minnesota also has regulations on food and water, infant diets, food allergies, children with developmental disabilities and handling infants.

If your child was injured because of a violation of state regulations, and the facility was previously cited for a violation of the same regulation, it may be easier to prove negligence occurred. This is because if a code was violated once, it is more likely a facility may violate that same code again in the future. The previous citation can be used as evidence of negligence in your child’s injury.

The trusted attorneys at TSR Injury Law have extensive knowledge of these regulations and how they apply to individual cases. We welcome the chance to discuss your claim in a free consultation.

Types and Signs of Daycare Abuse and Neglect

If your child suffered any form of abuse, you can call our Minneapolis daycare abuse lawyers for a free consultation.

There are generally three main types of daycare abuse children can suffer:

Physical Abuse

This could include hitting, spanking, slapping, pinching or hair or ear pulling. Children could be hit with objects, such as rulers, belts or hangers.

Some signs of physical abuse you should be aware of include:

Emotional Abuse

This can include name-calling, shaming, humiliation in front of the other kids, threats, hitting things by the child in anger. This can scare the child and lead to psychological problems that could last a long time.

Signs of emotional abuse in your child may include:

Sexual Abuse

This happens a lot more than people realize, and the abuser can use psychological manipulation to try to keep the child quiet. If a facility is understaffed or not properly monitoring children, abuse could go on for a significant amount of time.

There are many signs of sexual abuse to watch for, including:

Call a Minneapolis daycare abuse attorney for a free legal consultation. (612) TSR-TIME

Reporting Daycare Abuse

If your child has been abused and it is an emergency, call 9-1-1 to alert the police so they can investigate and if necessary, arrest the perpetrator to get him or her away from your child and other children at the daycare.

You should also report child abuse to the child protection agency in your county. There is a list of numbers for each county in Minnesota on the Department of Human Services website.

It is important to alert the authorities right away so they can begin investigating. The information they collect may help us strengthen your claim.

Contact a Minneapolis Daycare Abuse Lawyer Today

The experienced attorneys at TSR Injury Law have a proven track record of recovering fair compensation for injury victims in Minnesota. We have recovered $300 million in compensation over more than 20 years of service to injury clients.

We know how devastating it can be for parents to find out their child suffered abuse or neglect at a daycare center. Our Minneapolis daycare abuse attorneys are prepared to help you pursue justice on your child’s behalf.

The consultation with our attorneys is absolutely free and there is no obligation to take legal action so there is no risk. Our attorneys are not paid unless you receive compensation at the end of the legal process.

Call our firm today to discuss your claim. Ph: (612) TSR-TIME