My 6r old daughter no has a 2" scar on her forehead due to an incident in playground @ school, compensation?

Question

A boy threw a tennis racket up in air and it landed on megan, she was rushed toi hospital via ambulance with a 2 inch cut to he forehead (so deep u could see her skull.) it has left a 2 inch red scar where it was glued, am i able to seek some form of compensation for her? if so who from? the school..the boys parents etc. many thanks for any advice x

I'm sorry, I appear to have offended a few people here, however I failed to inform you that this was no accident, the boy had been terrorising my daughter for several weeks prior to the so-called "accident".

Answer 1

I would consult a lawyer about the possible responsibility of the boy's parents. But if this was innocent play, I would not even worry about that. It is was malicious intent, then I would look into it.

Why on EARTH would you think of holding the school responsible and going after the school?? Don't you think the schools are strapped enough for budget???

All in all, I do not think that a minor injury really deserves a lawsuit. This would be yet another waste of the court's time. If there were major injuries, I would maybe see different.

Answer 2

Well, after reading al of the prior responses, mine will not be popular! However, I am an attorney and this is the area of the law that I practice in, both defending people and suing people, in similar situations. Yes, you should sue (or at least make a claim) against the school. They may be responsible. This accident may have happened due to improper supervision. You are not allowed to supervise your child while she is in school, the school has that responsibility! Was this other child throwing the racket up and having near misses with other children for a period of time before your daughter was hit? If so there was improper supervision. Is the other child known to be violent toward other children? If so there was improper supervision.

The key is was the school's actions reasonable under the circumstances? Did the school do something it should not have (such as give this kid a tennis racket if he's been known to throw them up in the air before) or did they fail to do something that they should have (such as not enough adult suprevision).

The damages are significant. Your daughter now has a scar that will follow her for the rest of her life. Clearly visible in her forehead. How long before other children refer to her as Frankenstein or Harry Potter, etc.

Be forewarned that many municipalities have very short notice of claim requirements. This may be 30 - 90 days or thereabouts. Speak to a lawyer ASAP and fight for your daughter because the school won't. (By the way, if this is a small town school district, the school probably has insurance to protect them.)

Answer 3

People like you are the reason some schools no longer have school trips, fetes are so wrapped up in legal requirements and insurance everyone is too scared to be involved, and some parents will not let other children into their home in case they trip up the back step.

You have a child, can you honestly say your daughter has never done anything daft like this? How would you feel if it was the other way round and you might be sued?

You make me sick.

Edited to say:

I have sympathy if your daughter has been bullied, however I still don't think that justifies it. Sueing the parents will not stop the bullying, I doubt they are aware of it. Speak to them, or the school about the real issues.

Answer 4

The boy has done your girl a great favour. She will now be very wary of boys and not trust them easily.

A two inch scar, which will fade in time, is a small price to pay for such an important lesson.

You could try compensation, but hitting the boy over the head with a mallet is probably a far better idea.....but not too hard!

Answer 5

its tragic but how will compensation make any difference to your daughters scar? Accidents do happen and I think its just crazy that people expect compensation for everything these days. I would just be grateful that she is not more seriously hurt. We need to move away from this compensation culture. If you sue the boys family I am sure they could sue you because your daughter must have damaged the tennis raquet. We need to put an end to this rubbish.

Answer 6

So what, how is money grabbing going to help?

Thanks to this kind of thing we are loosing so much in our society.

I'm really really sorry she got hurt and I hope she recovers, but this kind of thing happens.

If you go for a claim it affects teachers, the other kids and parents. Its no wonder that no one wants to take responsibility for anything these days. Teachers, doctors, nurses etc are always in the firing line from the compensation culture just so you can have a few foreign holidays and buy some must chav accesories for you handbag.

My wife left nursing because of the strain of the reprocussions of some slight error. Think of it when you cant get help sometime.

Answer 7

by the sounds of it this was an "accident" so no compensation, if it had been bullying and therefore malice on the part of the boy and negligence on the part of the teachers it might be different but then it would still have to be proven and dragging your child through the ensuing court battle would probably do more damage than a small scar it would be you as a parent causing her emotional damage and mental scarring for a couple of quid

Answer 8

Kids in grades 1-6 in the City of Boston played a game called "squashball". It was baseball played with a volleyball. The pitcher would throw it underhand and the batter would hit it with a clenched fist, thumb and forefinger side. The asphalt schoolyards even had bases and foul lines painted on for squashball. It wasn't until I got to college that I found out what squash really was.

Answer 9

Well you have had the American version, now here's the UK version.

Your action would be against the Education Authority, not the parents of the child. The school were responsible for the child's safety.

You will have to show that the school were negligent or in some way failed in their duty of care to look after your child safely.

You are sueing in tort which could be expensive.

Talk to a solicitor who will advise you accordingly.

Good luck.

Answer 10

Compensation, don't make me laugh. This country gets more like America every day. It was a accident, what difference is money going to make, you won't get a fortune, she'll still have the scar for life.