Daycare Worker’s Playful Toss Turns Into A Nightmare

A toddler sustained a major brain injury and hearing loss after a careless California daycare worker threw him in the air and failed to catch him, according to a recent lawsuit. 

Video from the March 2025 incident at the Bay Club Clubhouse in El Segundo, California, captured the 23-month-old boy “C.K.” running up to the daycare worker, who started playfully swinging him around, according to the New York Post. 

The parents of a toddler are outraged after video shows their son being tossed in the air, then dropped on the ground by a daycare worker in El Segundo. https://t.co/Om7egP4TQu pic.twitter.com/6KVqaxMXgR

— California Post (@californiapost) July 7, 2026

The worker then tossed C.K. above her head, but was unable to catch him. Both plummeted to the ground. The worker seemed to fall on top of the child in the video as well. 

The boy seems to hit his head from the fall and began to cry, and the video shows the other daycare workers covering their mouths in shock and horror. 

C.K.’s parents, Matt and Elena Kittle, said the fall resulted in traumatic brain injury and hearing loss, according to the lawsuit.

The Kittles are members of the Manhattan Country Club, and the membership includes watching their children at the Bay Club Clubhouse with no additional fees. 

Matt dropped C.K. off on the day of the accident around 8:35 a.m. 

The lawsuit said Matt “received a call from the Bay Club stating that C.K had fallen and had since calmed down. The staff member said she did not think they needed to pick up C.K., but wanted them to know the incident took place.”

Matt received a call back from the daycare fifteen minutes later. “C.K. needed to be picked up and stated that they had not been able to settle C.K down,” said the lawsuit. “The Bay Club gave Mr. Kittle the impression that C.K had only sustained a minor injury.” 

One of the employees allegedly told Matt over the phone that C.K. only fell a foot and a half to the ground.

At 11:30 a.m., the toddler was taken to the ER at the nearby Torrance Hospital to assess his injuries, and he was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury, according to the lawsuit.

“The right side of C.K.’s face was badly bruised,” the lawsuit papers said. “His right eye was swollen shut and his mouth was swollen. Upon arriving home C.K. was extremely drowsy, lethargic, and irritable.”

The toddler’s parents asked for the video from the daycare, which showed C.K. was at least six feet in the air before he fell. 

The Kittles requested the jury to decide an amount, and they accused the Bay Club of negligence, battery, fraud, and emotional distress in their lawsuit.

“C.K. is still experiencing symptoms from the traumatic brain injury including loss of hearing,” the lawsuit said.