A BC daycare operator got sued by a parent because the operator decided to take her kids, who attend the daycare, to a party where they would be exposed to chickenpox.
According to a BC Civil Resolution Tribunal dispute, two parents who had registered their daughter at the daycare were informed by the operator that she had the opportunity to take her kids to a party where they would be exposed to chickenpox.
The parents then told the operator that they intended to keep their daughter, referred to as E, out of daycare for 13 days and asked for a refund for those days.
They sued the BC daycare operator for $2,250 for those days, including $1,200 for the deposit when they started daycare and $1,50 for unused days.
Based on the daycare contract, the operator said they were entitled to terminate services immediately without a refund and asked the tribunal to dismiss the claim.
E was registered at the daycare in May 2022. A contract that was signed, including termination and cancellation policies. On June 29, the parents paid the daycare operator $1,200 as a deposit. E began attending every Monday to Thursday in July.
On January 30, 2023, the daycare operator texted the parents that one of her children was sick. The parents didn’t send E to daycare, and consistent with the handbook, the operator agreed to a credit for the day.
On February 1, 2023, the applicants paid the daycare operator as usual, but when picking E up, the operator asked the parents about chickenpox parties.
The next day, the parents emailed the operator about their discomfort around the exposure event. They asked the operator to refund 13 days of daycare if they proceeded with exposing her kids to chickenpox. They added that they’d resume payment once daycare resumed.
On February 3, the operator notified the parents about a potential exposure to chickenpox “her sons had this past week.”
The operator could not explain why terminating E’s attendance at the daycare was in her best interest. While she suggested she didn’t actually attend the event, she couldn’t prove it.
“She argues she always discussed attending the party as a potential event. However, that does not explain why she said her children had been exposed the week prior, or why she felt it necessary to say they were not exhibiting symptoms of chicken pox at the time she sent the February 3 email,” the tribunal said.
The tribunal’s analysis of the termination policies states that the daycare operator can terminate daycare services in “the best interest of the child and the daycare.”
“I find that she has breached the parties’ contract by unilaterally terminating E’s care,” it added.
After all was said and done, the daycare operator was ordered to pay the parents $2,388.33, which included $2,250 in damages and the rest in tribunal fees.