Atlanta Injury Lawyer Blog

Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning is drafting an emergency rule change one week after the death of 2-year-old Jazmin Green, according to WSB-TV. My question, as an Atlanta plaintiff's personal injury trial lawyer, is this: Why does a child always have to die first before our Georgia Agencies do their job? The job they were created to do in the first place? How many Georgia children have to die before Georgia Agencies like Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) or Georgia Department of Family and Children Services (DFACS) do what they are supposed to do, i.e, protect Georgia children?

The death of Jazmin Green was a horrible realization that these State Agencies are woefully inadequate and give "protection" of Georgia children lip service. Little Jazmin simply should not have died if DECAL had not been asleep at the switch. Yet DECAL knew of potentially death-causing deviations of the required standards by this day care center, Marlo's Magnificent Day Care, as evidenced by DECAL's own inspection reports, and did nothing. A civil wrongful death suit can be brought against Marlo's, as it should be, for the wrongful death of Jazmin. But no such civil suit can be brought at DECAL due to sovereign immunity. We know, however, that a civil jury would do the proper thing to DECAL to get its attention and tell DECAL what it is doing regarding the safety of our children is not working. A jury made up of mothers and fathers would let DECAL know what it did wrong here, but, unfortunately, that won't happen. The parents of Jazmin need justice. Her heart has now been sealed for thy courts above. The Courts here in Georgia need to render justice for those Jazmin left behind.

As an experienced Atlanta, Georgia trial lawyer, I’ve successfully argued numerous day care personal injury and wrongful death cases over my years of practice. Nothing is more heartbreaking and frustrating than a preventable death, especially if the victim happens to be a child. So when I first learned of the recent news that a 2 year-old girl died under the noses of local day care employees, my heart sank.

The victim was left unattended for nearly two hours in a van, where temperatures quickly soared to a sweltering 140 degrees. Confined by the straps of her car seat with no means of escape, the child was left to suffer a lengthy, horrific end to such an abbreviated life. Police arrested Marlo Maria Fallings, the administrator of Marlo’s Magnificent Early Learning Center near Jonesboro, Georgia and her staff member, Quantabia Shantell Hopkins, on Tuesday, June 21. They are both being charged with involuntary manslaughter, cruelty to children and reckless conduct. They have already been released on $35,000 bond. These charges certainly fit the crime, however, more action needs to be taken in order to send a message to day care centers throughout the state that negligent conduct is a serious offense and will not be tolerated.

There may have been warning signs about the Clayton County Day Care Center. In March, Bright from the Start, the State agency that regulates day care centers, cited the center for not documenting a field trip and the children who were transported, according to the report. The report itself says the regulation was only "partially met" but, really, it was totally unmet. The report states:

"Finding 591-1-1-.36 (6)(d) requires that at the completion of every trip, a check must be made to assure that no child remains on the vehicle. The center staff did not initial or document the field trip form for children transported on October 26, 2010. POI (Plan of Improvement) The center will instruct staff regarding this safety measure. Correction Deadline - 03/01/2011"

So, this day care center didn't document any child getting on OR off the day care van and it obviously didn't remedy the situation by the March 1, 2011 deadline. Where was the follow up by the Georgia Department of Human Resources? This is egregious. In Tennessee, the Tenneesee Department of Human Resources this summer issued new reminders and warnings to day care centers about not leaving children behind in day care vans. “We know child-care providers share our concern about the need for increased vigilance during the hot summer months to ensure children are not left in vehicles,” DHS Commissioner Raquel Hatter said. As part of this increased vigilance, the Tennessee DHS licensing staff will be making extra visits to monitor child-care agencies. Where were the reminders from the Georgia DHS?

The next step toward justice, of course, should be civil action. Georgia law requires day cares such as the one in this case to check all vehicles after trips “to assure that no child remains in the vehicle.” Obviously, Ms. Fallings and her staff failed to abide by this simple statute and, therefore, should be held accountable.

I’m tired of hearing about preventable deaths such as this one that result from pure negligence. Last year alone, 49 children in the United States reportedly died from heat exhaustion while locked inside a vehicle. On a local note, Monday’s wrongful death was the second in metro Atlanta in less than a month involving a child trapped inside a vehicle. On May 25th, a five month-old girl died in a similar manner after being locked in an automobile for five hours outside a Kennesaw, Georgia day care center. These incidents are both preventable and unacceptable, and the responsible entities should be punished to the fullest extent of the law both civilly and criminally. My heart goes out to the parents of this little child.

Sources:
2 Accused of Day Care Death out of Jail

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Sarah I. Coole
June 6, 2011 Director of Communications
404-527-8700; 800-334-6865

Robin Frazer Clark of Atlanta Installed as State Bar of Georgia President-Elect

Atlanta – Robin Frazer Clark of Atlanta was installed as president-elect of the 42,000-member State Bar of Georgia on June 4 during the organization’s annual meeting at Myrtle Beach, S.C. Clark will be sworn in as the 50th president of the State Bar of Georgia in June 2012, becoming only the second woman to hold that office.
A solo practitioner, Clark represents individuals in matters involving personal injury and employment, automobile and tractor-trailer wrecks, premises safety, elevator and escalator cases, product safety, medical malpractice, legal malpractice and sexual harassment.
Clark is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and the Emory University School of Law and was admitted to the Bar in 1988. A past president of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, she moves into her new role with the State Bar having served on the Board of Governors, the Executive Committee and, for the past year, as secretary.
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The State Bar of Georgia, with offices in Atlanta, Savannah and Tifton, was established in 1964 by Georgia’s Supreme Court as the successor to the voluntary Georgia Bar Association, founded in 1884. All lawyers licensed to practice in Georgia belong to the State Bar. Its more than 42,000 members work together to strengthen the constitutional promise of justice for all, promote principles of duty and public service among Georgia’s lawyers, and administer a strict code of legal ethics.