The person who directly caused an accident is not always the only party who may be responsible for a child’s brain injury. In some cases, more than one defendant may share responsibility.
Depending on what happened, potential defendants can include drivers, employers, schools, daycares, property owners, healthcare providers, product manufacturers, sports organizations, contractors, and other parties whose actions or failures contributed to the injury.
How is liability for a child’s brain injury determined?
Liability normally begins with several questions:
- Who had a responsibility to protect the child or avoid causing harm?
- What did that person or organization do or fail to do?
- Did that conduct cause the brain injury?
- What harm resulted?
Negligence law typically requires four elements to be proven: a duty of care, a breach of that duty, causation, and compensable harm. That said, the outcome of a case can vary greatly depending on where and how the child was injured.
Can a negligent driver be liable?
Yes. A driver can potentially be held responsible when unsafe driving causes an accident that injures a child. Examples of unsafe driving may include:
- Speeding
- Distracted driving
- Impaired driving
- Failing to yield
- Running a traffic signal
- Unsafe passing
- Other unreasonable driving behavior
However, the investigation should not always stop with the driver. If the driver was working at the time of the accident, their employer may also be held liable under the respondeat superior doctrine, depending on the state’s laws. Additionally, a vehicle defect, defective restraint, or other product issue could raise further questions of liability.
Can a school be responsible for a child’s brain injury?
Potentially. A school may face a claim if inadequate supervision, unsafe facilities, poor maintenance, or dangerous equipment contributed to the injury. The circumstances surrounding the activity itself can also matter. For example, if a student was injured during a PE class because a piece of gym equipment was poorly maintained or a teacher failed to provide proper safety instructions, the school could be held liable for negligence.
Public schools and school districts, however, are often subject to special state laws governing governmental entities, known as tort claims acts. These laws define when a government entity can be sued and may limit the claims or damages available. They can also affect immunity, notice requirements, and filing procedures.
Depending on the facts of the case, it may be worth taking a closer look at negligence by schools or school personnel, a failure to properly supervise students, or injuries during physical education.
Can a daycare be held liable?
A daycare may be responsible if a child’s brain injury was caused by negligent supervision, unsafe premises, dangerous equipment, or improper staff conduct. Any failure that would have been prevented may be grounds for a claim.
Building a case often comes down to the evidence available. Staffing records may show whether enough caregivers were present. Training materials and supervision policies can help establish what procedures should have been followed. Incident reports, surveillance footage, witness statements, and licensing records may provide additional evidence about what happened.
Can a property owner be responsible?
A property owner or occupier may potentially be responsible when an unsafe condition causes an injury. Examples can include:
- Unsafe stairs or railings
- Unprotected windows
- Dangerous playground surfaces
- Poorly maintained equipment
- Unsafe swimming pools
- Other hazardous conditions
The duty owed by a property owner depends on the jurisdiction and the circumstances. The type of property, how the child came to be there, and who controlled the dangerous condition can all affect the analysis.
Can a product manufacturer be liable?
Yes, potentially. Some pediatric brain injuries involve allegedly defective products rather than — or in addition to — another person’s negligence. The legal framework for products liability can differ from an ordinary negligence claim.
Possible examples include:
- Defective car seats
- Bicycle helmets
- Playground equipment
- Sports equipment
- Infant products
- Other products intended to protect or transport children
Depending on applicable law, responsibility may extend beyond the manufacturer. Designers, distributors, and other companies in the chain of distribution may also need to be examined when a defective product is involved.
Can a healthcare provider be responsible?
A doctor, hospital, or other healthcare provider may potentially be liable when professional negligence causes or worsens a child’s brain injury. A case might involve a delayed diagnosis or an error in treatment. Other claims can arise from surgical mistakes, medication errors, inadequate monitoring, or failures involving oxygen deprivation.
Medical malpractice claims have specialized legal and evidentiary requirements and typically require expert medical analysis.
Can coaches or sports organizations be responsible?
Possibly. Sports inherently involve some risk, and an injury does not automatically mean negligence occurred.
Potential legal issues can arise, however, when a child is exposed to unreasonable dangers through matters such as defective equipment, inadequate supervision, inappropriate safety practices, or mishandling of a suspected concussion. The CDC states that a child or adolescent athlete should return to sports after a concussion only with healthcare-provider approval and through an appropriate return-to-sports process.
Who may be responsible after a drowning or near-drowning?
A near-drowning event can deprive the brain of oxygen and cause serious neurological injury. Who may be responsible depends on where the incident occurred and who had responsibility for safety or supervision. An investigation may examine:
- Property owners
- Pool operators
- Lifeguards
- Camps
- Daycares
- Hotels
- Other parties responsible for supervision or pool safety
The determining issue is whether a person or organization failed to meet an applicable safety obligation and whether that failure caused the injury.
What if more than one party contributed to the injury?
Multiple defendants can potentially share responsibility for the same accident.
For example, a child injured on defective playground equipment may also have been inadequately supervised. In that situation, both the manufacturer and the supervising person or organization may need to be investigated.
A motor vehicle case could involve negligent driving as well as a defective safety product. A sports injury might similarly involve unsafe equipment and a separate failure to manage a suspected concussion properly.
The legal treatment of shared responsibility varies by state. For that reason, the investigation should identify each potentially responsible party and examine the role that party played. It must also develop evidence connecting each party’s conduct to the child’s brain injury.
Identify who may be responsible for your child’s injury
Determining liability requires more than identifying the person who was present when the accident happened. The investigation may also need to examine an employer, a school, a daycare, a property owner, a healthcare provider, a manufacturer, or a government entity. Which parties may be responsible depends on the circumstances surrounding the injury.
The Killino Firm investigates serious child brain injury cases and can help your family determine who may be legally responsible. Our child brain injury lawyers can examine how the injury occurred and identify the people or organizations that may have had a legal duty to protect your child. We can also investigate the evidence needed to determine how each potentially responsible party contributed to the injury.
Get your free, confidential case evaluation. Call 24/7 at 878-888-7878 or contact us online.
No upfront fees; client pays no legal fees unless a recovery is achieved.
The information provided on this site is not formal legal advice. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Confidential consultation is required.
