Advice on thinking about suing my child’s school.

[questio]

My primary aged child was in school, walked past an interactive white board which had extremely sharp edges and it sliced in between his fingers, resulting in him having to go to the ER and having it glued and steri stripped and now bandaged up. He’s an elite dancer with a huge show coming up in 10 days, he tried training the evening after the accident but his wound split back open and he had to have it redone. He has been told no dancing for at least two weeks while it heals, this has really upset him, the thought of not being able to participate in a dance show he’s been training 12 hours a week + for the last 4 months has really put a dampener on his spirit. I emailed and asked the school to see the risk assessment on this whiteboard as why is it in a kids classroom if it’s that sharp. I didn’t get a reply email but the head rang me instead, saying they have removed it from the class room and contacted the company it’s from to return it as they were not aware it had sharp edges underneath. She was very apologetic and said they now have put the old one from the library in its place which has been checked and no sharp edges or any way to be a risk to injury and hopes this has reassured me.
Im not one to think about suing, I’ve never claimed against anything before but I’m considering speaking to some one, as this should have never happened in the first place. I’ve worked in schools and we risk assessed every item in that classroom before hand.
Yes I’m aware making a claim will not make my child’s hand heal any quicker and able him to get on that stage to complete his dance routine, but I feel more should of been done to prevent this from occurring and now because of their negligence I’m out of pocket due to dance subs and any dance moms will understand how expensive dance costumes, theatre tickets and all else that comes with it will understand.

any thoughts

Are you in America? (You say ER rather than A&E). If so, they seem to be more litigious and I think you need US specific advice. But if you’re in the UK I think no, no suing.

What would suing them achieve?

Why was your son touching the board?

What kind of dancing that his hands matter?

Private or state?

That would be ridiculous. Sorry your son got hurt, but if he's at an age to be competing in serious competitions he's old enough to not be running his hands over and under random objects.
You're also not out of pocket, you spent the same money regardless, your son just can't compete now.
I would add more steri strips to that, I'm not surprised it opened with 1 small strip at the edge.

First post nails it.
Accidents happen and will do even under your watch. Accept it and move on.

The school has done everything it can to rectify the situation.

I understand that dance can be an expensive hobby, but this was a total accident. You haven't had to pay out more due to his cut. Same as if he had slipped on ice or got a sickness bug.

An accident doesn't necessarily mean negligence.

Personally, yes I I think yabu. If he’d lost his hand or had a permanent disability maybe, but not for a cut.

I think regardless of the costs you say re costumes etc why on earth would you want to expend the energy doing this???? To gain what???

The school seem to have remedied the situation going forward comprehensively. The only question remaining is why wasn’t it risk assessed first? I think you can work with them to ensure thats in place going forward without suing.

Agree

It was an accident, he probably shouldn't have been touching the board as much as it shouldn't have been sharp.
It's a minor injury, I can't imagine you can get anywhere trying to sue anyone for this in the UK.
He could catch the flu at any point and you'd not be able to use the costumes. I'm sure there will be other events where you will get use.
Are you in the USA, is this more common there?

Think of the time, effort and money, on both sides, that will soaked up by the whole process of suing. And to what end? Absolutely ridiculous.

now because of their negligence I’m out of pocket due to dance subs and any dance moms will understand how expensive dance costumes, theatre tickets and all else that comes with it will understand.

You're saying if the accident hadn't happened, you wouldn't have incurred these costs?

Can you provide more information on that as it's not clear why?

Well he didn’t get that from just walking past it, did he. He must have touched it or tried to lift/move it if it sliced his fingers like that. It doesn’t sound like the school was negligent- if anything it would be the manufacturer.
Also, other than missing one competition, it doesn’t sound like there was any real loss other than him being disappointed. He will be right as rain in a couple of weeks and it will have no impact on his ability to dance in the future. How much would you value your potential claim at?

Negligence is about providing that an organisation which owed a duty of care breached this duty and the injury or loss suffered was a result of this breach. You’ll ultimately be claiming that the school should have reasonably foreseen that the whiteboard posed a danger and did nothing to mitigate this danger - which I suspect is going to be difficult, as they likely couldn’t have foreseen that a whiteboard, purchased from a reputable supplier, used correctly, might result in a pupil being cut (how did your son manage to cut his hand on a whiteboard just by walking past it? The school will, probably correctly, argue that he was messing about and that was how the injury happened.)

Schools (in the UK) have. No. Money.

if you were to sue and win, that’s money that can’t be spent on teachers teaching children, or nice experiences for those children, or books. As your child is one of those children, presumably this would bother you?

Why was he running his hands under the whiteboard? What weird behavior. No, he shouldn’t have got hurt, but in all honesty I’ve never risk assessed the white board for sharp edges nor seen a child touch it in this way.

I’m sorry he’s missing his dance show, but please don’t sue the school. It won’t help anyone.

I'd be surprised if he couldn't dance in 10 days with the two fingers taped together with microporous tape

This would be pointless for many reasons. I hope he gets well soon.

Accidents happen, the school have acted and put mitigations in place he shouldn't have been touching it.

He could just as easily broken a bone slipping on ice, sprained an ankle at dance practise, hurt himself in PE.

You are only upset as you lost out financially because you don't have appropriate insurance cover. Your lost costs are not the schools issues. He may not perform but presumably the training and build up has taught him new skills and made him a better dancer which will help him in future. You haven't wasted money on theatre tickets, take home with you to watch his friends.

A good dance school would make room for him and change some of the choreography/ give him different choreography which doesn't irritate his wound but I'd be surprised if it wasn't largely healed by then anyway. Your mistake was allowing him to go to practise the day it happened without telling the teacher he needed an adjusted practise routine that day. He could have gone and worked on lower body flexibility and footwork and not done anything involving his hands

Do not sue them - that is pointless. It will cause masses of stress and hassle to the staff for no good reason. It would be better if they were teaching.

Accidents happen.

Sue for what?

I honestly can't think what you'd achieve, but if you're genuinely trying to recover costs, then post in legal and see if you have a case.

It sounds like the school have taken god actions following this happening.

As per pp, are you in the UK? I think this sort of think is just unfortunate and we move on. (Rightly or wrongly)

Yes it sounds quite ridiculous. It’s a really superficial wound. I guess maybe the dance routine involves lifting another dancer or balancing on his hands, in which case he probably should hold off a bit. However, the OP really has exaggerated the impact here. He has at most suffered the disappointment of not competing this one time and the entry cost for the competition as well as maybe a new costume or something.
What if he’d got D&V the day before the competition? Then you’d be in the same position as now (but presumably with nobody to blame).

It's an accident ...

To add, if your son is involved in high-level dance with significant costs involved, it’s a good idea to take out sports insurance which would cover you for any financial losses sustained as a result of him being injured or unwell. Dance in itself is fairly risky in terms of potential injury.

This is life as the parent of a dancer (or any other athlete)

I'm currently (uncomplainingly) paying normal dance fees for a dancer who can't attend class plus weekly private physio to try and get them back to dancing asap.

I am a dance mother of an elite dancer. I understand how expensive it can be.

However, it would not occur to me to sue for what you have described and I would consider you to be unreasonable if you did.

The school appear to have been responsive and have taken appropriate action and removed the board once the issue was discovered. If the edge was away from the front of the unit I can see why the risk may not have been immediately apparent but without seeing it, it is difficult to comment on whether the risk was an obvious one in the first place.

Also, in terms of your losses - you have only really lost 2 weeks on dance fees, and ticket costs. If the event requires travel - claim on your insurance. And the costume is going to be worn again for other performances so that is not likely a genuine loss.

Ultimately, accidents happen in life and people can make mistakes. Sometimes, you just have to deal with it and move on instead of jumping on the litigation bandwagon. I'd also question the legal merit in your case (depending upon the jurisdiction you are in - I don't think you'd get far in the UK courts).