LIBRARY > ACCIDENTS > SCHOOL/PLAYGROUND

Overview: Your Child May Be Entitled To Compensation

Topics Covered

Who Is Responsible?
Rights and Remedies: Examples
Protect Your Rights

INTRODUCTION: Once children have arrived at school, we'd like to feel they're safe. Given the number of parents who seek help from the lawyers at Trolman, Glaser and Lichtman, we know children encounter many dangers in their classrooms and playgrounds.

Accidents occur at school when teachers and other staff don't take proper precautions when kids are doing a potentially dangerous activity, like woodworking or a science experiment. Children also get hurt when they are allows to do things that are not appropriate for their age or skill level. Then there are the violent kids who take out their aggressions on other children, sometimes with dangerous weapons that should not be permitted in the school building.

If your child is injured in a school accident, you should contact us to investigate the incident. It's important to act quickly because you many have only 90 days to file a claim for compensation. Our lawyers have successfully handled many lawsuits involving children who've sustained serious injuries at school. See some of the awards we've won for clients.

Questions? Please call us at:
1-888-4-TGLLAW^TM
1-888-484-5529

Who Is Responsible?

Most of us remember those wonderful times we spent, as children, playing in our neighborhood playground, park and schoolyard. We recall those long summertime days of happy playtime, running, jumping and having fun using the equipment which was there for our use.

For others, these memories are not as happy. There are memories of terrible pain, broken bones and worse; the kind of injuries that leave permanent disabilities -- all of which were caused by a accident which could have been prevented.

What legal remedy does your child have if injured in a playground or schoolyard? Under what circumstances is your child entitled to be compensated if he or she is injured while playing in such a place?

It must be remembered that the great majority of the playgrounds and schoolyards located in New York City are owned and operated by the City of New York or the Board of Education. Just as any other kind of claim which is made against the City, a written Notice of Claim must be filed within 90 days from the date of the accident. (However, with regard to children, there are circumstances where the Court will permit the late filing of a Notice of Claim, more than 90 days after the accident).

The law in the State of New York imposes on all those who operate a park or playground a duty to provide reasonably safe conditions for the protection of the public. This means that the City is responsible for its negligence. If the City allows or permits the playground to be in a defective or dangerous condition or it fails to properly repair or maintain its equipment and grounds and a child is caused to be injured, the City will be responsible.

The City is responsible for all injuries that result from a dangerous condition or defect that it is aware of or should have been aware of. For example, park employees or school employees are under a duty to carry out reasonable inspections of their facilities and, if an improper inspection is made or a defect is found and nothing is done about it, the operator of the park will be held responsible for all injuries sustained.

Rights and Remedies: Examples

In a reported case, a child was injured when part of a swing broke. The jury found that a proper inspection would have revealed the danger. The Court stated that the City had a duty to inspect its equipment and, had they properly maintained and inspected the swings after installing them, the accident would not have occurred. They were held to be responsible to the child for all of the injuries sustained as a result of a fall. The Court had determined that because swings get a great amount of usage, the safe practice would have been for the City to inspect for defects and repair them at reasonable intervals.

The law requires the City, in operating these facilities for the use by children, to take in to account the age and behavior of children. That is, the City must take reasonable steps to protect children by providing rules and regulations, proper supervision or other safety precautions in the use of the playground.

For example, it is foreseeable that a four-year old may not be mature enough to be allowed to play alone on the monkey bars. The City must either make a rule providing that children under five cannot use the monkey bars, employ a playground supervisor to oversee play on the monkey bars, or provide safety devices so as to prevent injuries on this type of apparatus.

In another more recent case, a child was injured in a fall from a slide at a playground. The Court held that the City had a duty to provide a padded surface surrounding the playground equipment to guard against injuries resulting from falls. It was determined that the City's own standards required padding on playground pavement and this established a reasonable safety standard to which the City was required to comply. The Court reasoned that if the City set a standard for padding on playgrounds, it was to provide against a reasonable foreseeable danger. The child's accident was a result of the breach of a duty by the City to provide a safe condition in the playground.

Protect Your Rights

The City, the Board of Education or the Housing Authority are required by the law to see that their playgrounds and parks are reasonably safe. Unfortunately, city and state agencies do not always provide a safe environment in its playgrounds and accidents which may be preventable occur.

If your child is injured while using a playground, you should consult with Trolman, Glaser and Lichtman to investigate the facts and circumstances of the accident to determine whether your child is entitled to be compensated. Again, because the claim may concern the City or a State agency, fast action is required.