Daycare release form for COVID - question for lawyers

[Anonymous]

Our daycare requires us to sign a release form. It has the standard language that they are taking reasonable precautions and that if we get COVID, we agree they are not liable for any consequences and will not sue them. I get that. But it goes further and says that if we get COVID, we agree that it is due to our own negligence. What is the purpose of this additional language and what does it mean to agree to it? Why isn't it sufficient for them to stop at getting us to agree we will not sue them? How can we know whose negligence is responsible for something in advance? Does this mean that if the school does do something negligent, I am still signing away my right to sue them?

[Anonymous]

Tell them to pound sand with a mallet

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tell them to pound sand with a mallet

Please do so I can get the spot. There are limited spots all over. Bad advice!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our daycare requires us to sign a release form. It has the standard language that they are taking reasonable precautions and that if we get COVID, we agree they are not liable for any consequences and will not sue them. I get that. But it goes further and says that if we get COVID, we agree that it is due to our own negligence. What is the purpose of this additional language and what does it mean to agree to it? Why isn't it sufficient for them to stop at getting us to agree we will not sue them? How can we know whose negligence is responsible for something in advance? Does this mean that if the school does do something negligent, I am still signing away my right to sue them?

yes, that is the purpose of the language, you are agreeing that you cannot accuse them of negligence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our daycare requires us to sign a release form. It has the standard language that they are taking reasonable precautions and that if we get COVID, we agree they are not liable for any consequences and will not sue them. I get that. But it goes further and says that if we get COVID, we agree that it is due to our own negligence. What is the purpose of this additional language and what does it mean to agree to it? Why isn't it sufficient for them to stop at getting us to agree we will not sue them? How can we know whose negligence is responsible for something in advance? Does this mean that if the school does do something negligent, I am still signing away my right to sue them?

yes, that is the purpose of the language, you are agreeing that you cannot accuse them of negligence.

Does that kind of agreement really matter if it can be proven that they were negligent? What if they just decide they are not going to enforce mask wearing or take temperatures anymore and not tell parents?

[Anonymous]

To sue anyone for getting COVID you would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt where it is that you contracted it, which is impossible. Those waivers are useless, and liability insurers don't require them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To sue anyone for getting COVID you would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt where it is that you contracted it, which is impossible. Those waivers are useless, and liability insurers don't require them.

if contact tracing ever lives up to its promise, the ambulance chasers will be shopping for new boats

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To sue anyone for getting COVID you would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt where it is that you contracted it, which is impossible. Those waivers are useless, and liability insurers don't require them.

Not true. This would not be a criminal case but a civil suit where the standard is not as high.

[Anonymous]

In Va and DC, if you are 1% negligent, you are barred from recovering any damages under the doctrine of “contributory negligence.” I suspect they are hoping this form will protect them by claiming that if you send your kid you are contributing to their own harm, regardless of what they do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In Va and DC, if you are 1% negligent, you are barred from recovering any damages under the doctrine of “contributory negligence.” I suspect they are hoping this form will protect them by claiming that if you send your kid you are contributing to their own harm, regardless of what they do.

Edit- this doctrine applies in MD, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our daycare requires us to sign a release form. It has the standard language that they are taking reasonable precautions and that if we get COVID, we agree they are not liable for any consequences and will not sue them. I get that. But it goes further and says that if we get COVID, we agree that it is due to our own negligence. What is the purpose of this additional language and what does it mean to agree to it? Why isn't it sufficient for them to stop at getting us to agree we will not sue them? How can we know whose negligence is responsible for something in advance? Does this mean that if the school does do something negligent, I am still signing away my right to sue them?

yes, that is the purpose of the language, you are agreeing that you cannot accuse them of negligence.

Does that kind of agreement really matter if it can be proven that they were negligent? What if they just decide they are not going to enforce mask wearing or take temperatures anymore and not tell parents?

It limits liability from negligence but not gross negligence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To sue anyone for getting COVID you would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt where it is that you contracted it, which is impossible. Those waivers are useless, and liability insurers don't require them.

"Beyond a reasonable doubt" is not the burden of proof for civil tort negligence cases.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To sue anyone for getting COVID you would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt where it is that you contracted it, which is impossible. Those waivers are useless, and liability insurers don't require them.

"Beyond a reasonable doubt" is not the burden of proof for civil tort negligence cases.

+1. PP is thinking of the criminal culpability standard. In civil tort cases, the standard is “preponderance of the evidence” or “more likely than not.”

[Anonymous]

Every school must be requiring the legal language because all schools are 'building the plane as it's flying.'

[Anonymous]

It'd be so hard to prove you got COVID at a specific place it would be a difficult lawsuit to begin with.