The family had entrusted their young son to a licensed child-care center in Seguin. He was in the center’s care during the day, in a classroom staffed by adults the family trusted to keep him safe.
According to the petition, an adult caregiver employed by the center physically disciplined the boy, striking him so forcefully that it knocked him backward and he fell to the floor. The caregiver did not pick him up and did not render any aid. Instead, the petition alleges, the caregiver walked away and left the child lying on the floor.
The incident did not go unseen. According to the petition, another employee reported it, and management at the center reviewed what had happened. Despite that, the center never told the boy’s mother that her child had been struck, never reported the incident to child-care licensing, and allowed the caregiver to remain employed. A former employee has since given sworn testimony describing what she witnessed that day.
The center is a licensed Texas child-care center serving infants, toddlers, pre-kindergarten, and school-age children. Texas child-care rules prohibit corporal punishment and other improper discipline, require centers to supervise and protect children, require staff to be properly trained, and require centers to document injuries and notify parents. Every one of those rules exists to prevent exactly this. 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, and failed to properly train and supervise its staff.
What makes this worse is what the center did after. The harm was witnessed, reported by another employee, and reviewed by management. The center’s response was to keep it from the family and keep the caregiver on the job. We have obtained sworn testimony from a former employee, an independent witness who no longer works there, describing what she saw, and we are pursuing the center’s footage, its incident records, its disciplinary file for the caregiver, and its training and supervision policies.
We represent the family and have filed suit against the center in Guadalupe 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, and the failure to train and supervise staff. We contend the center is responsible for its employee’s conduct. We have already secured sworn testimony from an independent witness and are pressing the center to preserve and produce the footage and records.
A daycare does not get to take a family’s money to keep their child safe, let a worker strike that child to the floor, and then hide it from the family while keeping the worker on staff. We intend to hold this center fully accountable.
We represent the family and have filed suit against the center in Guadalupe 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, and the failure to train and supervise staff. We contend the center is responsible for its employee’s conduct. We have already secured sworn testimony from an independent witness and are pressing the center to preserve and produce the footage and records.
A daycare does not get to take a family’s money to keep their child safe, let a worker strike that child to the floor, and then hide it from the family while keeping the worker on staff. We intend to hold this center fully accountable.
