Your child has suffered an injury on school grounds in Orlando, Brevard, Volusia, Osceola or Seminole County . . .
What should I do?
Call me, Heiko G. Moenckmeier Esq., an experienced personal injury attorney, at (407) 504-1384 for a free, no obligation, no risk consultation to find out if the school is liable for your child’s injuries and if you could be entitled to a financial settlement.
Student injuries occurring on school grounds are quite common. Some students are injured during recess while playing games or climbing on playground equipment. Others result from playing a sport, while exercising or participating in some other activity during a physical education class. Many of these injuries are related to the activity and are simply unavoidable.
However, some injuries that occur on school grounds can be the result of unsafe physical conditions or caused by the actions of other students or staff. In these cases, financial damages may be recovered to pay for medical bills and other injury-related costs.
Student Injuries Caused by Dangerous Physical Conditions
All Florida schools have a responsibility to maintain a safe environment and prevent foreseeable dangers from harming students. Dangerous conditions on school premises can include unsafe playground equipment, frayed electrical wires in a classroom or lab, slippery floors caused by leaky pipes or roofs, unsanitary bathroom or cafeteria conditions and the presence of mold or other toxic materials.
In Florida, a school’s responsibility for injuries occurring in a building or on its grounds falls under premises liability law. In a premises liability lawsuit, the injured party (the student) attempts to prove that his or her injuries resulted from the failure of the property owner (the school district) to make the property (the school building and grounds) safe. To succeed, the injured person must prove that the property owner knew or should have known of the dangerous condition and failed to repair and/or provide a warning of the dangerous condition, which resulted in a student injury because of the dangerous condition.
Student Injuries Caused by Others
Schools are required to take reasonable steps to keep students from harming one another while on school premises. At the very minimum, this includes hiring enough staff to supervise students while they are on school premises. Teachers, coaches, teaching assistants, recess monitors, hall monitors, bus drivers, administrative staff and crossing guards are responsible for ensuring student safety.
Additionally, schools also must use caution and proceed with great care when hiring teachers, coaches and other staff to avoid exposing students to dangerous adults. A school could be liable for the sexual abuse of a student if school administrators knew that the offending teacher or staff member had a history of molesting children or possessing child pornography and was hired anyway. Or, when an employed teacher or staff member was retained even after child molestation misconduct occurred or possession of child pornography was discovered.
Seek Medical Attention
If your child is injured while on school premises, seek immediate medical treatment for his or her injuries. When treatment is completed and your child is released by the hospital or personal physician, obtain all medical reports and save all medical bills. If a lawsuit is filed, your child’s claim should include all medical bills and compensation for pain and suffering. The medical reports will document the nature and extent of your child’s injuries and be used to determine the amount of compensation for pain and suffering. Compensation for pain and suffering is an amount beyond medical bills. Also, since your child is a minor, you will need to be appointed guardian ad litem to sue on his or her behalf.
Make the Call for Experienced Legal Help
If your child is injured at school, call me, Heiko G. Moenckmeier Esq., an experienced personal injury attorney, at (407) 504-1384 for a free, no obligation, no risk consultation and to find out if the school is liable for your child’s injuries and if you could be entitled to a financial settlement.
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