Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

Re: scratching incident at the preschool left many scars on my child

School liability is problematic. There are conflicting rulings, but it appears the trend is to find liability with proof of responsibility. Your surer claim is against the other child and parents. As always, the issue is proof, and also a consideration of the lack of info who was the agressor. Contact me if interested in pursuing.

Re: scratching incident at the preschool left many scars on my child

I'm sorry to hear about what happened to your son, and I empathize with your anger and frustration. At the same time, I wonder why you believe the three teachers provided "negligent supervision".

Children can scratch one another even when the supervisors are doing their jobs perfectly. The teachers should have intervened once they realized what was happening, but they can't be expected to prevent such incidents completely. The fact that your child was scratched does not, by itself, prove that the teachers were negligent, and I would need to know more about the facts before I could say whether I agree with your assessment.

I also would need more facts before I could say whether the school is liable. Is it a public school or a private one? Did you sign a contract with it when you enrolled your son and, if so, what did it say? Had there been other, similar incidents prior to this one? If so, were they caused by the same child? Did they happen while the same teachers were supervising? There are many other things I would need to know before I could answer you.

One thing I can tell you is that you seem to have a good case against the other child's parents. Parents are financially responsible for the harms caused by their minor children, at least up to a point. Have you approached the parents about the harm their child caused?

Even if you have a good case legally, there remains the question of how much your damages would be and how likely they are to be collectible. If your son's scars are small and will continue to heal, the damages may be modest. If the school and the other parents are broke and uninsured, you may not be able to collect even if you go to court and win.

As you can see, your situation is not as simple as it might seem. I suggest consulting directly with an attorney about your rights, and I wish you the best of luck.