EL SEGUNDO, California — A family is taking legal action after their toddler was left with a traumatic brain injury and hearing loss at a daycare run by a high-end fitness club — and they say the club tried to hide what really happened.
The incident occurred on the morning of March 17, 2025, at The Bay Club El Segundo’s clubhouse childcare center.
What the Lawsuit Claims Happened
According to the lawsuit, a female employee was holding the 23-month-old boy, identified as C.K., by his hands. She swung him between her legs, then hoisted him over her head — releasing him while he was approximately six feet off the ground.
The child fell, smashed his head on the hardwood floor, and the employee then fell backward and landed on top of him.
Staff called the boy’s father to say C.K. had “fallen” but had “calmed down” — downplaying the severity. Minutes later, they called again to say he needed to be picked up immediately.
When the father arrived, C.K.’s right eye was swollen shut, his face badly bruised, and his mouth swollen. He was drowsy, lethargic, and inconsolable. The family rushed him to the emergency room, where doctors confirmed the brain injury.
The Alleged Cover-Up
The boy’s mother was told by club staff that C.K. had been held just a foot and a half off the ground when the fall happened.
Security footage obtained by the family’s attorneys tells a different story — one the lawsuit describes as “intentionally false and misleading.”
The lawsuit also alleges the club was operating its childcare program without a required California daycare license, and that the exemption it claimed did not apply because the parents were not on the same premises when the incident occurred.
The club has declined to comment on the ongoing litigation.
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