Houston Childcare Center Sued For Neglect And Abuse

A Houston child care center is being sued by the families of former children who accuse the center of neglect and abuse. Two of the former employees had criminal backgrounds and video surveillance shows some of the abuse. The plaintiffs contend that the daycare destroyed evidence of abuse in defending themselves from the allegations. In one case, the State of Texas warned the daycare not to allow one of the employees to be alone in the same room with children. The daycare failed to heed the warning and parents claim this particular employee terrorized and abused the children both physically and emotionally.

The plaintiffs have an expert who will testify that she was involved in improving the childcare center’s overall accreditation score but was sickened by the abuse that she saw from the employees. At one point, a staffer who abused children was fired and rehired by the owner. The expert will testify that this constitutes gross negligence and wanton or willful misconduct on the part of the daycare owner. The State of Texas was not informed of the owner’s decision to rehire an abusive staffer.

Analyzing the allegations 

The allegations are damning. This appears to be a situation where the owner of the daycare is fighting back against government efforts to impose their will on the company. This is evidenced by the fact that they rehired an individual that committed abuse at the daycare without alerting Texas authorities. In other words, the daycare owner is attempting to buck the system. It’s sort of what you hope for as a personal injury attorney because you can get defendants like these to make your case for you. If the State of Texas tells you not to place an abusive staffer in the same room with children alone, and you do that anyway, you have just admitted to gross negligence and intentional misconduct. This means that the plaintiffs can sue for punitive damages. Punitive damages are awarded in excess of compensatory damages to punish a particularly negligent or careless defendant. With seven defendants all alleging gross negligence, the jury award against the defendant will be enough to put the business under.

It is, however, unclear whether the daycare owner will be able to pay the plaintiffs for their damages. In that case, the plaintiffs would have the satisfaction of knowing that they ran the owner out of business, likely never to get licensure to operate a daycare again. Nonetheless, the jury award could be high, into the millions. The company and owners would have the option of declaring bankruptcy, but only at the cost of liquidating the business. So, ultimately, bucking the system will cost the owner everything.

Talk to a Houston Personal Injury Attorney Today 

If your child has been abused at a daycare, the Houston personal injury lawyers at Livingston & Flowers can sue to recover damages related to your child’s medical expenses, lost quality of life, and psychiatric injuries that result from the abuse. Call today to schedule a free consultation and learn more about how we can help.

Source:

prnewswire.com/news-releases/seven-families-sue-treehouse-academy-for-neglect–abuse-301469028.html