Parents Sue After Rope Swing Injury

The parents of a preschooler have filed a lawsuit against a preschool after the child suffered an injury on a rope swing. The swing was situated over a paved surface. The daycare has denied the allegations of negligence saying that they lack sufficient information to proceed to a settlement. The daycare is requesting a jury trial.

According to the allegations, the child was using the rope swing with the help of a counselor who is also named in the lawsuit as John Doe. The child fell from the swing, striking his head on the cement causing injury. According to the lawsuit, the rope was about 5 ft above the ground and tied to a tree.

As a result of the injury, the child suffered a skull fracture, internal head trauma, concussions, a broken wrist, and face lacerations. No trial date has yet been set for this complaint.

Elements of negligence 

Is the daycare negligent? There are quite a few problems here. Firstly, their ad hoc rope swing was not set up properly. It was a nice idea for the kids to have a swing, but the swing should be less than 5 ft from the ground. The child would have had to have been lifted to reach the swing unless he was abnormally tall for his age. Beneath the swing, there should have been woodchips or at least ground as opposed to hard concrete which likely helped make the boy’s injuries worse. It’s hard to imagine he suffers a skull fracture if he lands on earth. The counselor as well is likely negligent in this claim for allowing the very small child to swing from five feet off the ground.

So, it does not appear that the plaintiffs will have a difficult time establishing negligence if even one of those allegations turns out to be supported by the facts.

Will the parents win this lawsuit? 

Almost certainly. Their attorneys will provide evidence that the daycare set up a dangerous rope swing that would have caused injury to someone inevitably. It happened to occur while a student was playing with a counselor which means that the counselor was supervising the rope swing at the time. The child, being small, likely could not access the rope swing without the help of the counselor. So, the counselor was supervising when the injury occurred. Ultimately, the counselor is responsible for the safety of the child. Further, the child’s injuries could have been mitigated if the rope swing was set up properly. Five feet off the ground leaves a lot of room to take a tumble. That means there should have been something soft underneath the swing to prevent serious injury.

All of these elements add up to serious negligence against the daycare. They have no real defense to these allegations other than to say, they don’t believe the allegations rise to the standard of negligence. But they do.

Talk to a Miami Personal Injury Attorney Today 

If your child is injured due to the negligent conduct of counselors or teachers, or a dangerous condition on school premises, call the Miami personal injury lawyers at the office of Alan Goldfarb, P.A. today to schedule a free consultation and learn more about how we can help.

Source:

jhnewsandguide.com/news/cops_courts/rope-swing-at-childrens-learning-center-leads-to-lawsuit/article_932a2c76-f64e-51ec-be6f-e0be79cf55f7.html