AUSTIN, Texas — A popular day care in Austin is under fire again after another lawsuit claims to have caught more abuse on camera.
An Austin mother claims her 18-month-old suffered serious physical, emotional and mental harm after an incident at The Children's Courtyard in May 2023.
According to the lawsuit, the mother claims she was checking on her daughter on the day care's live feed when she saw an employee push a little girl, causing her to fall on the ground. The employee then allegedly walks away, leaving the young girl crying on the floor without checking on her.
The mother then starts recording the live feed and sees her daughter playing near a shelf. According to the lawsuit, the mom then sees an employee yank her daughter by the arms before dropping her onto a nap mat. The employee is allegedly seen yanking the mat in frustration and then lifting the baby with one arm and tossing her on top of another child lying on a different mat.
According to the lawsuit, the aggressive behavior didn't end there after another child was tossed "with great force" onto his nap mat before being covered entirely by a blanket. The mother said she pulled her daughter out of the day care and was told The Children's Courtyard would investigate.
The mother claims she was told "corrective actions" were taken but that neither employee was fired until another incident two months later that was investigated by the state.
The mother is suing for $1 million in damages. KVUE reached out to The Children's Courtyard about the new lawsuit but hasn't heard back.
Ongoing issues at The Children's Courtyard in Austin
The same location was at the center of another lawsuit in July after a family said their worst nightmare came true on the live feed.
Alexis Dominguez said she was watching her then-2-year-old son being cared for at the day care location in southwest Austin when she allegedly saw an employee smother her son with a blanket to keep him quiet. The employee is then allegedly seen slapping the toddler in the face.
KVUE checked the day care's compliance history, which showed incidents where children were left unsupervised, unreported incidents, a lack of competency on the job and situations where children danced on tables and took off their clothes.
Other reported incidents
The day care operates multiple locations in several states, including Texas, and has seen its share of controversial incidents.
Another lawsuit claimed a 3-year-old suffered a febrile seizure in 2022 after the location in New Braunfels "failed to properly monitor her child's health and neglected to inform her about his deteriorating condition."
In 2017, two employees were fired from a location in North Texas after two employees were caught on camera throwing a toddler to the ground. The toddler's mother caught the entire incident on a live feed while at work.
