Personal Injury Liability: School Field Trip Lawyers

It depends. Typically, courts will look into the facts of a particular case to determine whether or not a school should be held liable for the student’s injuries. There is no set rule which necessarily requires or excludes recovery for the student’s injuries.

What Elements Does a Court Look Into to See if a School Should Be Liable?

Specific factors that courts use can differ depending on the case at hand and standard practices within the state. The following are examples of some typical elements that can influence a school’s liability for injury to a student during a field trip:

• The age and experience of the students involved: Is this a kindergarten class or a group of undergraduate researchers?
• The field trip location: Was the class visiting a museum or an industrial factory?
• The individual accountable for the injury: Was it an employee of the school or someone else?
• Injured student’s relative fault in causing the harm: Was the student largely accountable for getting themselves hurt?
• Precautions taken by the school: Did the school supply oversight and guidance?

Does Being a Public or Private School Student Make a Difference?

Yes. Many state laws bar public school liability for injuries during a field trip. Thus, a private school student hurt during a field trip technically has a better chance of recovering for their injuries. Nevertheless, it is essential to mention that many private schools use permission slips, including liability release forms.

What Is a Liability Release Form?

A release form (or clause) is a contract signed by the victim if the accident happened during activities such as skiing and flying in an airplane. The contract may have appeared on the boarding pass or passenger ticket.

The release clause may claim to release a facility or individual from liability for injuries that may happen on the premises or under the individual’s care. Nevertheless, these limitations may not apply to the specifics of your case during a field trip because many states do not consider release forms enforceable.

Liability release forms can sometimes be called by other names, such as a liability waiver. Such forms may be used in different contexts and by various parties.

Who’s Liable for a School Field Trip Injury?

Say the weather is excellent, and your kid’s school may be setting up a field trip to the regional zoo or amusement park. While these trips can be educational and entertaining, these excursions away from school can also be ripe for field trip injuries.

So what transpires if a goat bites your son at a petting zoo? Or your daughter drops off the slide at the playground? These harms have occurred, and they can lead to legal liability.

Both schools and businesses can be held liable for your child’s damages. Nevertheless, you should also be aware of waivers of liability.

First, you should know that businesses that run an operation open to the public can be held responsible for injuries on their property. Businesses owe a duty to keep their premises safe to the public. This can include sustaining equipment, establishing safety devices, and warning signals. If an amusement park ride malfunctions and your kid is hurt, park operators could be held liable.

Parents may also sue the school for their kid’s injuries, along with the business. After all, your kid is supposed to be overlooked by school personnel during these field trips. If your kid is hurt due to neglect or inadequate supervision, you could have a claim against the school.

Ultimately, you should be mindful of the impact of waivers of liability. In most circumstances, if your kid goes on a school field trip, the school will instruct the parent to sign a waiver and release of liability. Keep in mind that these waivers are not always enforceable, and the fact that you sign one is not necessarily destructive to your power to collect for a field trip injury.

What Are the Limits of Liability Waivers for Field Trips?

If your kid is going on a field trip, you will likely be asked to sign one of two common types of waivers:

• General consent waiver: This is a blanket type of waiver in which you waive your right to take legal action against a party in case of damage to yourself or, in this case, your kid. In signing the form, you accept the risks involved in the activity and declare that you are participating voluntarily and all risks have been made apparent to you. Courts in many states frown upon this type of liability waiver, as they think schools are asking parents and their kids to relinquish fundamental rights. In contrast, schools evade penalties for preventable mishaps and injuries.
• Informed consent waiver: This type of liability waiver tries to restrict the school’s liability by advising kids and their parents of the dangers and duties they assume when participating in a particular activity. Nonetheless, informed consent waivers cannot protect the school from liability for injuries to kids that happen because of the staff’s negligence.

It is essential to understand that liability waivers will only go so far in protecting school districts. You may have grounds for a claim if you can demonstrate that a school worker, supervisor, bus driver, etc., caused or contributed to your child’s injuries on a field trip. When a potential defendant is a government agency such as a public school, you have a narrow time to file a notice of your claim with the appropriate department.

When Is School District Negligence a Factor in Field Trip Injuries?

School districts have a duty to their students, including a commitment to warn and notify. The school might have been negligent if it failed to provide a secure facility, appropriate safety equipment, instructions, maintenance, or medical care after an accident happened. The school must notify parents or guardians if a kid is hurt on a field trip or school. When failure to notify the parents results in furtherance of the injuries, the school district can be held responsible.

To show that the school district was negligent, you must demonstrate that:

• The school district owed a duty of care to the injured student.
• The school breached that duty of care.
• The breach of duty caused the student’s accident.
• The accident resulted in harm.

Can a Third Party Be Liable for Field Trip Injuries?

Not all field trip injuries result from the school’s negligence or its staff. In some circumstances, third parties are responsible, for instance, for dangerous conditions on the premises where an event took place. If a third party was negligent and that negligence caused your kid’s injuries, you may have a claim for compensation against the third party.

Does a Liability Release Form Prevent Recovery For a Student’s Injury During a Field Trip?

Most of the time, yes. Nevertheless, liability release forms will not preclude recovery for cases dealing with gross negligence (i.e., when the school fails to take safety measures even a careless individual would take) or willful/wanton misconduct (i.e., when the school deliberately acts in ways that can cause harm).

How Can a Lawyer Help Me?

If your child was injured during a school field trip, you should contact a personal injury attorney to learn about your rights. A lawyer can tell you about your state’s local field trip laws and analyze your case to determine the likelihood that you’ll be able to recover.