Video shows SoCal daycare worker tossing child in air, dropping him

A family is seeking legal action against an El Segundo fitness club’s
daycare center after startling video was released that shows a worker
tossing a child in the air and dropping him.  

The incident took place at the Bay Club Clubhouse on March 17, 2025,
according to a complaint filed earlier this month. The Bay Club is a
fitness center that has a childcare facility called the Clubhouse. 

Per the complaint, the father of the 23-month-old child – identified
only as “C.K.” — dropped him off at the Clubhouse, where he was due to
stay for three hours.  

However, about an hour in, cameras captured one of the daycare workers
swinging C.K. between her legs and then, eventually, hoisting and
tossing him into the air. 

“The employee failed to catch him and C.K. fell to the floor behind the
employee [as] C.K. smashed his head on the hardwood floor,” the
complaint states. “Then the employee fell backwards and landed on top of
him, and C.K. began crying hysterically.” 

It is further alleged in the complaint that a Bay Club Clubhouse worker
called both parents of C.K. and eventually got in touch with his father;
however, the staff member “downplayed the significance of what actually
happened” and thus, when C.K.’s father was given the option to pick his
son up right then or wait until the scheduled pickup time, he opted for
the latter. 

“[The father] received a call from the Bay Club stating that C.K. had
‘fallen’ and had since ‘calmed down,’” the complaint reads. “The staff
member stated that she did not think they needed to pick up C.K., but
wanted to let them know that an incident took place.” 

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However, shortly after that phone call, C.K.’s father received another
call conveying the opposite message, suggesting he needed to pick up his
son because daycare staff “had not been able to settle [him] down.” 

“The Bay Club gave [C.K.’s father] the impression that C.K. only
sustained a minor injury and that it was C.K. who was causing stress on
the staff which required a parent to retrieve the child,” the complaint
states. “[C.K.’s father] went to the Bay Club to retrieve his son [and]
observed that his injury was far more serious than what he was led to
believe by the Bay Club. The right side of C.K.’s face was badly
bruised, his right eye was swollen shut and his mouth was also swollen.”

C.K.’s mother, per the complaint, then spoke to a Bay Club worker who
said her son was being held by an employee who fell over while she was
in a squatting position, and that C.K. was only about “one-and-a-half
feet above the ground” when the fall occurred.  

“The information conveyed by the Bay Club was not truthful,” according
to the complaint, which added that the employee told C.K.’s mother that
her child “wanted to go to sleep immediately after the fall and that the
Bay Club’s employees had trouble keeping him awake.” 

Later on that morning, C.K.’s parents took him to an emergency room,
where he as evaluated for injuries consistent with blunt force trauma. 

“C.K.’s parents repeated the Bay Club’s lies about the incident to the
medical staff…the medical staff questioned the accuracy of the Bay
Club’s description of the incident because the injuries were not
consistent with a fall from a foot-and-a-half,” the complaint said.
“They suggested [the parents] verify the details of the incident.” 

A CT scan and neurological exam revealed C.K. had suffered a concussion,
blunt head trauma and a facial abrasion. 

Four days after C.K. was injured, his parents, who were at first told
they would be unable to see the surveillance video of what happened,
obtained the footage and were “shocked” at the severity of the incident
“as well as the fact that the Bay Club tried to cover up the true nature
of the incident,” the complaint says. 

“The Bay Club is entrusted by parents in the local community to provide
care and supervision for their young children. The conduct of the Bay
Club was reckless and outrageous, especially considering that it
involved a 23-month-old child,” it continues. “Then the Bay Club
compounded their culpability by concealing the circumstances under which
C.K.’s injuries were sustained.” 

According to the complaint, the Bay Club’s incident report indicated
that the employee went to pick C.K. up, she “lost her footing [and] when
she fell, she caught him, helping him avoid hitting the ground.” 

“The video proved that the incident report was intentionally created by
the Bay Club to be false and misleading,” the complaint reads.  

C.K. is still experiencing symptoms from the traumatic brain injury,
including loss of hearing, the complaint further adds. 

KTLA reached out to the Bay Club for comment on the matter, and a
spokesperson said that while they do not comment on ongoing litigation,
the safety of its members and families is the facility’s highest
priority. 

https://ktla.com/news/local-news/el-segundo-daycare-facility-legal-action
-sought/