If your child suffered a sports injury due to negligence, unlawful actions, or violence, you may be able to file a lawsuit against the team, school district, or others.
Watching our kids play sports is a great joy for many parents — but what happens when your child’s participation in an activity like football or baseball causes serious injury? In many cases, parents will simply use their own health insurance to cover the costs of treatment. But in some situations, you may be entitled to seek compensation from the person or entity that was at fault for your child’s injury.
Sports injuries are fairly common — occurring once every 25 seconds in the United States — but severe injuries that lead to a lifetime of medical care are thankfully rare. Injuries can happen at any time— during a practice, game, or competition. Surprisingly, kids who play sports like gymnastics tend to have more severe injuries than those who participate in team sports like hockey or football.
Your Rights When Your Child Is Injured
When your child plays a sport — particularly one that involves a high risk of injury — you may be said to have “assumed the risk” of injury. You may have even signed a waiver absolving the organization or school district of liability in the event of an accident or injury. However, even if you have signed a waiver, you may still be able to file a lawsuit after a sports-related injury.
If your child’s injury was caused by negligence, unlawful, illegal activity, or violence from other players, you may have grounds for a lawsuit. For example, if your child suffered a head injury during a game and the team doctor cleared him to go back onto the field the next week, where another tackle caused a more serious injury, you may have a claim for negligence. In this situation, you would be arguing that it was the team’s negligence in caring for your child after his injury — and/or the medical staff clearing him to play — that led to the more serious head injury. You may also file a negligence lawsuit if the school district or organization did not properly use or care for protective equipment, such as helmets, or if the coaches did not implement safety protocols during practice or games, such as giving players enough rest or sufficient water in hot temperatures. If the coaches ignored or did not notice signs of trauma (particularly head trauma) or if they insisted that an injured player get back in the game, those could also be grounds for negligence lawsuits.
In some states, a doctor must sign a release after a head injury or concussion before a player can get back onto the court or the field. If a team puts a player back into action without a release, that may be an example of an unlawful action that leads to a personal injury lawsuit.
If your child’s safety or protective equipment failed due to a defect in its design or manufacture, you may also be able to file a products liability lawsuit against the manufacturer for his or her injuries.
Finally, if other players are violent and cause injury to your child, you may be able to file a lawsuit against the team, its coaching staff, or a certain player and his family. The key here is that the violence must exceed what is expected in that sport. Tackles are expected in a football game; punches are not. If the injuries are caused by violence that goes above and beyond the norm, then you may be able to file a claim.
If your child has been injured in a sports-related accident, know that there is help. At the Law Offices of Larry H. Parker, we are experienced at handling all types of personal injury cases — including those that result from sports-injuries. We will evaluate the facts of your case at a free initial consultation and inform you of your rights and options. We never charge a fee unless we get money for you! Contact our office today at 800-333-0000 or info@larryhparker.com to learn more about how we can help you if your child has been injured in a sports accident.
