California Parents Sue Fancy Daycare After Toddler Is Thrown and Hurt

What’s This Story About? (Explained Like You’re 5)

Imagine you leave your tiny brother at a playground where grown‑ups are supposed to keep him safe. But one grown‑up plays too rough: she swings him like a toy, tosses him high in the air, and doesn’t catch him. He falls and bonks his head really badly. That’s what a family in California says happened to their almost‑2‑year‑old son. Now the parents are going to court (that’s called a lawsuit) to say “this was wrong, and we want justice.”

Who Is In This Story?

• Matthew Kittle and Elena Kittle – the mom and dad.
• C.K. – their son, who is 23 months old (that’s just one month shy of 2 years).
• The Bay Clubs Company, LLC – the business that runs the daycare.
• A female daycare worker – the person the family says threw the child.
• Ryan Saba – the lawyer (a helper in court) for the family.
• The Clubhouse at Bay Club El Segundo – a very large (14,000‑square‑foot) childcare room that promises supervised play.

The Day It Happened: March 17, 2025

Here is a simple step‑by‑step of what the lawsuit says happened:

1. 8:35 a.m. – Dad drops C.K. off at the daycare. He tells staff he’ll pick him up at 11:30 a.m. and will be at a nearby club (Manhattan Country Club, about a mile away) while his son is in care.
2. 9:20 a.m. (less than an hour later) – A female employee holds C.K. by his hands, swings him between her legs, lifts him over her head, and lets go when he is about 6 feet above the floor (that’s like two grown‑ups stacked!).
3. The worker fails to catch him. C.K. falls to the hard wooden floor, smashes his head, and then the worker falls backward and lands on top of him.
4. Other adults in the room looked “aghast” (that means super shocked and scared) at how bad it was.

Important Point: A surveillance video (like a security camera) given to the news shows this scary moment. The family says the daycare later tried to tell a calmer, fake story.

How The Daycare Talked To The Parents (According To The Lawsuit)

The parents say the daycare didn’t tell them the truth right away. Here’s the phone call timeline:

• 9:28 a.m. – Mom gets a missed call from the daycare.
• 9:30 a.m. – Dad gets a call saying C.K. had “fallen” and was “calmed down.” The staff said they didn’t think parents needed to come get him.
• 9:34 a.m. – Dad calls back. He is told he can’t talk to the room staff. Because he heard C.K. was calm and not injured, he says he’ll pick him up at the normal session end.
• 9:45 a.m. – Daycare calls again, saying C.K. must be picked up because they couldn’t settle him.
• 10:10 a.m. – Dad arrives and sees his son is hurt much worse than described:
  • Right eye swollen shut
  • Right side of face badly bruised
  • Mouth swollen
• Later at home – The toddler is very sleepy, cranky, and weirdly tired (lethargic).

The lawsuit also says a daycare boss (aquatics director) later told Mom a false story: that the worker just slipped while squatting and the child was only 1.5 feet off the ground. The video proves that didn’t happen.

Going To The Doctor

• Later that same morning, C.K. is taken to a local hospital for “blunt head trauma” (that’s a fancy way of saying his head got hit hard by something).
• Doctors say he has:
  • A concussion (a brain bump)
  • Traumatic brain injury (the same as a serious concussion)
  • A scrape on his face (facial abrasion)
• The doctors and next‑day pediatrician both wondered: “How could a tiny fall cause such big hurts?” They doubted the daycare’s story.
• On April 9, a special brain doctor at UCLA Concussion Clinic said C.K. still had concussion symptoms, and he now also has hearing loss (trouble hearing). The family says he also had sensitivity to light and sound, irritability, irregular sleep, lethargy, and attachment issues in the weeks after.

What The Family Is Asking For In Court

The Kittles filed their complaint in Los Angeles County Superior Court against The Bay Clubs Company. They say the club did many wrong things:

• Negligence (not being careful)
• Negligence per se (breaking a rule that protects kids)
• Negligent hiring, supervision, and retention (hiring or watching the worker badly)
• Negligent infliction of emotional distress (causing sadness/worry)
• Fraud (lying)
• Intentional infliction of emotional distress
• Battery (touching harmfully)

They want:

• Money for the harm (damages)
• Extra punishment money (punitive damages)
• Civil and statutory penalties
• Attorneys’ fees (lawyer costs)
• A jury trial (where regular people decide)

Callout: The family says the daycare’s own incident report was false—it claimed the worker lost footing while picking up C.K. and “caught” him. The video shows she did not. The parents got the real video on March 21 and were shocked.

What The Daycare Says

The Bay Club gave a short statement: “We are unable to comment on ongoing litigation. At the Bay Club, the safety of our members, team members, and the families we serve is our highest priority.” That means they can’t talk about the case because it’s in court, but they say safety is super important.

Summary

A California couple says their 23‑month‑old boy was thrown about six feet in the air by a daycare worker, fell, and got a traumatic brain injury. They say the daycare tried to cover it up with a gentler story, but security video showed the truth. The family sued the Bay Club for many reasons and wants the court to make things right. The daycare says it can’t discuss the case but cares about safety.

FAQ (Simple Questions & Answers)

1. What is a “traumatic brain injury” in kid words?
It’s when a bump or hit to the head hurts the brain so much that it changes how a person feels, thinks, or acts. A concussion is one type of this.

2. What does “lawsuit” mean?
It’s when someone asks a judge (a court helper) to decide if another person or company did something wrong and should pay or fix it.

3. Why did the parents get the video so late?
The family says they kept asking the Bay Club for the camera footage. The company finally gave it to them on March 21, a few days after the March 17 incident.

4. What are “punitive damages”?
That’s extra money a court can order the wrongdoer to pay not just to help the victim, but to punish the bad behavior and stop it from happening again.

5. Did the daycare admit fault?
No. They said they cannot talk about the ongoing lawsuit, but they stated that safety is their highest priority.