| The following is an expert answer given by Florida | | | | Answer: Your email does not indicate what state you |
| Personal Injury Accidents Lawyer, Joseph M. Maus, | | | | live in. I am a Florida personal injury accidents lawyer |
| and taken from AllExperts.com, a free Q & A service | | | | specializing in auto accident injuries, premises liability |
| on the internet: | | | | claims, and Florida workers compensation claims. I |
| Subject: Son injured at Montessori school | | | | can only advise you on what the law is in Florida |
| Question: My son is 5 years old and enrolled in a | | | | personal injury accidents, so it is best that you speak |
| private Montessori school nursery for Kindergarten. | | | | to an accident attorney in your area to find out what |
| He was playing in the school's "smaller" playground | | | | rights you may have. |
| when a boy pushed him aside and landed on him and | | | | A school is held responsible for dangerous conditions |
| his hand. This was the school's story.... The school | | | | which they know about, or should know about, and |
| notified us and we went to pick up our son and iced | | | | their failure to protect the children at the school from |
| his hand for the rest of the day. We then noticed he | | | | the dangers. However, I am not aware of any laws |
| was not using his hand or bending it. Alarmed, we | | | | in Florida that require a school to have rubber padding |
| took him to the ER the next day and discovered his | | | | on cement areas surrounding a playground. Because |
| wrist was fractured!!!! Yet he insisted the incident | | | | he was injured at a kindergarten, there may be |
| occured on the grass. He now has a cast on his arm | | | | additional safety requirements for playgrounds, but you |
| and we are confused as we all know a big kid can't | | | | need to speak with an experienced accident injury |
| break another kids bones??? We returned to the | | | | lawyer in your state to investigate further. |
| school on Monday with doubt and questions. Our son | | | | It is not unusual to get different versions of injuries to |
| showed us where and how he fell. We discovered | | | | children at school. If the school fabricated the initial |
| the already "small" playground had a cement walkway | | | | story, that is obviously unacceptable. It may just be |
| surrounding the grass area; however it was poorly | | | | the teachers did not see what happened, and they are |
| covered with green turf to of course resemble grass | | | | left to rely on other students accounts of what |
| (to a 5 yr old anyway). We then realized he had | | | | happened. Regardless, the school should have filled out |
| broken his wrist on the cement not by the boy landing | | | | an incident report detailing all the facts surrounding the |
| on him. We reported the finding to the school | | | | incident. |
| secretary as the principal was in a conference. We | | | | Most school have insurance for the type of incident |
| also asked why it was improperly reported and we | | | | you have described. Their insurance usually includes |
| were not handed an injury report on the day of the | | | | "medical payments coverage", or Medpay. Medpay is |
| incident. | | | | a type of insurance coverage that pays for medical |
| The report was then handed to us 4 days later only to | | | | bills which arise out of an injury that occurs at the |
| read that our son had tripped and fallen on the ground | | | | school. If you have incurred out of pocket medical |
| and several kids had fallen on him (yet another story). | | | | bills, you should speak to the school to find out whether |
| We are in shock that the school has such poor | | | | they have medpay coverage. If so, you need to |
| playground safety, poor manners of handling incidents | | | | submit the bills to the school's insurance company and |
| and not honest at all. There should be at least | | | | you will be reimbursed. You will need a copy of the |
| rubber padding or 4 inches of separation from the | | | | incident report to obtain the medpay coverage, if it |
| ground to the cement. We took photos of the area. | | | | exists. |
| The principal or head of school has yet to return our | | | | In order to determine whether you have a claim to |
| call for a meeting and it has been a week and a half | | | | pursue, you should speak to an accident injury |
| since the incident. Our son does not want to go back | | | | attorney. Most attorneys specializing in premises |
| to school and we don't trust the school at all. The | | | | liability claims handle the claims on a contingent basis,i.e. |
| safety is poor and we want to report them as well as | | | | the attorneys fee is a percentage of any money they |
| have them pay for the medical bills. Should we receive | | | | recover for you, and offer a free, no-obligation |
| compensation and just how liable are they??? Clearly | | | | consultation to discuss whether you have a viable |
| not safe for our son so he is not attending but how do | | | | case. |
| we proceed with closure??? | | | | |