A court has ordered a daycare center to pay more than 30 million won in damages after a one-year-old child fell backward and was seriously injured while washing hands with a teacher at a bathroom sink.
According to legal sources on Tuesday, Senior Judge Song Kyung-geun of the Cheongju District Court's Civil Division 8 recently ruled partially in favor of the plaintiffs in a damages suit of approximately 240 million won filed by the child's parents against the daycare director and a childcare teacher identified as A. The court ordered the director and A to jointly pay the child's parents more than 33 million won.
The accident occurred in August 2022 at a daycare bathroom in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province. A placed the child on a stepped foot stool at the bathroom sink and was washing the child's hands. During the process, the child fell backward and hit the head on the floor, sustaining injuries requiring eight weeks of treatment and emergency surgery.
The parents filed the lawsuit arguing that A had failed to fulfill her duty of care, causing the accident, and that the daycare director also bore joint responsibility as A's employer.
"Although a scar remains on the child's head, there is a possibility it can be reduced through future plastic surgery," Judge Song said. "It is difficult to conclude that there will be future loss of earning capacity such as cognitive decline." Based on this assessment, the court recognized only partial liability for damages.
