Our team at The Button Law Firm recently helped a family in Plano, Texas, get justice for their child who suffered a traumatic event at the hands of her caregivers. In January of 2024, a 4-year-old girl faced the unimaginable: Her caregivers left her in a bathroom, where she remained for 40 minutes. When this little girl’s parents came to pick her up, they noticed their daughter crying and visibly upset. The caregivers responsible for her safety reported nothing went wrong that day, but her parents decided to investigate.
After seeking surveillance footage from the Plano daycare center, the couple learned the truth: Their daughter had been locked and left in the boy's bathroom until another child opened the door 40 minutes later. Afraid and neglected, she had waited alone for someone to help her, and none of her caregivers noticed.
The little girl’s parents contacted our daycare and child injury lawyers at The Button Law Firm to hold the Plano daycare center accountable for the negligence that caused the young child to be abandoned in her classroom’s bathroom. Our legal team got justice by securing a settlement that would go toward helping the girl receive the proper psychological treatment needed to help the family move forward.
How Did This Plano Daycare Center Break Texas Childcare Laws?
There are rules and regulations that daycare centers must follow in the state of Texas. These daycare laws, called minimum standards, are meant to protect children and ensure parents’ trust in their child’s daycare center. In the case of this 4-year-old girl, a number of the minimum standards were broken by her caregivers at the Plano daycare center:
- Not closely supervising the little girl
- Trapping a child in a locked room
- Not noticing a child in their care was missing
- Not complying with minimum standards
- Allowing a child to be neglected while in their care
In fact, an independent investigation conducted by the state cited the Plano daycare center for a number of failures. The caregivers failed to ensure no child was harmed while in their care when they left a 4-year-old alone with no supervision and they had no auditory awareness of what was happening with the child. Caregivers are required to do face-to-name checks when moving children from a classroom to another location, but they should also be aware of all children in their classroom and notice if one is missing.
How Did The Button Law Firm Hold the Plano Daycare Center Accountable for Its Negligence?
Being trapped in the bathroom for the amount of time that she was had a significant impact on this 4-year-old girl’s well-being. When the parents discovered what had happened to their daughter, they immediately took her to her local pediatrician. Her primary care physician then sent her to get a psychological evaluation. They diagnosed her with mixed anxiety and depressed mood, resulting in a significant amount of required future treatments.
The traumatic incident made the little girl scared of being trapped in a room, so much so that she began leaving her shoes in doorways to prevent doors from fully closing. She also refused to sleep without her mom, causing a disruption in her family’s nighttime routine. The mental, physical, and emotional toll that this incident had on her resulted in milestone regressions, including episodes of bed-wetting despite being previously potty trained. The once playful little girl, she now gets overwhelmed in large group settings and continues to show signs of significant anxiety in her day-to-day life.
Since the incident, she has participated in play therapy and will continue to seek treatment to help her continue processing the traumatic daycare incident.
Thanks to our daycare and child injury lawyers at The Button Law Firm, the Plano daycare center was held accountable for neglecting this little girl. She and her family were awarded a settlement that compensated them for all damages, including her distressing experience, life disruptions, and ongoing therapy that will help the pre-K child process her experience and move forward in a healthy way.
Was Your Child Harmed Due to Daycare Negligence in Texas? Contact The Button Law Firm.
If your child was physically or emotionally harmed because caregivers did not comply with Texas daycare safety laws, contact our experienced daycare and child injury lawyers at The Button Law Firm. With lawyers in Dallas, Houston, and Midland, we are ready to listen, fight for your family, and help your family move forward. Our lawyers at The Button Law Firm are recognized on the prestigious Texas Super Lawyers list, and we can help guide you after a traumatizing incident involving your child. We work on contingency, meaning we don’t charge you or collect any upfront fees to get started on your case. Call us at 214-699-4409, email us at [email protected], or fill out a contact form for a free case evaluation.
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