Charlotte Injury Lawyers Blog
Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “What if a loved one dies from the injuries sustained in a serious accident while the case is pending?”
A website that links consumers with caregivers for children, seniors and pets has been sued by a Wisconsin couple who used the website to hire a nanny to care for their infant daughter. The infant—Rylan Koopmeiner—died in 2012 of a head injury. Police have charged the nanny that the Koopmeiners hired through Care.com with murder.
The nanny—Sarah Gumm of Waukegan, Illinois—was caring for infant Rylan at her home when the child “suffered a skull fracture and cranial hemorrhaging and died on July 27, 2012.” The cause of the child’s death, according to an autopsy, was blunt force trauma to the head.
Ms. Gumm had been cited twice for drunken driving and once for battery before the Koopmeiners hired her. They paid for the highest-level background check available on Care.com, but the site failed to reveal Ms. Gumm’s criminal record. The Koopmeiners say they would not have hired Gumm if they had known about her criminal history. They say Care.com was negligent.
Care.com has responded that while it is deeply saddened by Rylan’s death, the company cannot comment on ongoing litigation. Ms. Gumm’s attorney has said that she did not kill Rylan intentionally.