In early March 2026, the family’s three-year-old son was enrolled at a licensed child-care center in Houston, in Harris County. He was in the center’s care during the day, in a classroom staffed by an adult the family trusted to keep him safe.
According to the petition, an adult caregiver employed by the center physically disciplined the boy by striking him on the face. The blow was hard enough to leave a handprint-shaped mark and a painful welt on the child’s face. Texas child-care rules flatly prohibit corporal punishment; a caregiver is never permitted to hit a child in her care.
The petition alleges the boy’s mother discovered the welt on his face when she picked him up that day. The center had not told her anything had happened. According to the petition, the center never reported the incident to the mother, never reported it to child-care licensing, and allowed the caregiver to remain employed.
The center is a licensed Texas child-care center serving young children. Texas child-care rules prohibit corporal punishment and other improper discipline, require centers to use only appropriate methods with the children in their care, require staff to be properly trained and supervised, and require centers to document injuries and notify parents. The petition alleges the center used a prohibited method of discipline, failed to render aid, failed to seek medical care, failed to notify the mother, failed to report the incident to licensing, and failed to properly train and supervise its staff.
A handprint-shaped welt on a three-year-old’s face is not something that happens in appropriate care, and it is not something a parent should have to discover for herself at pickup. We contend the center is responsible for its employee’s conduct, and we are pursuing the center’s incident and reporting records, the caregiver’s disciplinary and training file, any available footage, and its supervision policies, to establish what happened and why the family was never told.
We represent the family and have filed suit against the center in Harris County. We brought claims for negligence, gross negligence, and violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, including the use of prohibited discipline, the failure to render aid, the failure to notify the mother, the failure to report the incident, and the failure to train and supervise staff. We contend the center is liable for its caregiver’s conduct, and we are pressing the center to preserve and produce its records and any footage.
A daycare does not get to take a family’s money to keep their child safe, let a worker hit a three-year-old hard enough to leave a handprint on his face, and then send him home as if nothing happened. We intend to hold this center fully accountable.
We represent the family and have filed suit against the center in Harris County. We brought claims for negligence, gross negligence, and violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, including the use of prohibited discipline, the failure to render aid, the failure to notify the mother, the failure to report the incident, and the failure to train and supervise staff. We contend the center is liable for its caregiver’s conduct, and we are pressing the center to preserve and produce its records and any footage.
A daycare does not get to take a family’s money to keep their child safe, let a worker hit a three-year-old hard enough to leave a handprint on his face, and then send him home as if nothing happened. We intend to hold this center fully accountable.
