Parents sue fitness club daycare center after video appears to show worker throwing child
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July 8, 2026, 9:17 PM EDT
By Marlene Lenthang and Austin Mullen
A fitness club is being sued after an employee at one of its childcare facilities in Southern California threw a 23-month-old child in the air and failed to catch him, resulting in a traumatic brain injury, according to the complaint
Matthew and Elena Kittle filed the lawsuit July 2 against The Bay Club, an upscale club with multiple locations, including one in El Segundo, just south of Los Angeles
They allege that while their son, identified by the initials C.K., was at the daycare center at The Bay Club El Segundo on March 17, 2025, an employee tossed him into the air — 6 feet above the ground — but failed to catch him, the lawsuit says. C.K. fell to the ground and hit his head on the hardwood floor, and the employee fell backward and landed on top of him, the suit says
It says The Bay Club downplayed the severity of the fall to the boy’s parents. C.K. sustained a concussion and still experiences side effectsfrom the fall, the suit says
The complaint, filed against The Bay Clubs Co. LLC and Bay Club South Bay LLC, alleges negligence; negligence per se; negligent hiring, retention and supervision; negligent infliction of emotional distress; fraud — intentional concealment; intentional infliction of emotional distress; and battery
The Bay Club said it is 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,” it said in a statement
The Bay Club LLC owns and operates private fitness and country clubs across the West Coast, including locations in Oregon, Washington and California
Its El Segundo location has the El Segundo Clubhouse, which the club’s website describes as a 14,000-square-foot childcare center, where kids participate in activities under supervision
The day of the incident, C.K.’s father dropped him off at the El Segundo Clubhouse. He told staff members he would be at the Bay Club Manhattan Country Club, a mile away, for the next three hours, according to the complaint
C.K. was injured at 9:20 a.m., the suit says
Security video, which was included in the lawsuit, shows a female employee holding a child by his hands and swinging him between her legs. She then throws the boy over her head, letting go of the child’s hands, and fails to catch him. The child falls to the floor behind her, and the employee falls backward and appears to land on top of him, the video shows. The employee then appears to hold the child while they are on the floor
Other staff members react with shock and concern after the fall, the video shows
The club called C.K.’s parents separately afterward. Matthew Kittle picked up the call at 9:30 a.m. and was told that C.K. had “fallen” and had since “calmed down,” the lawsuit says. He called back and said he would pick up his son at the end of his session
At 9:45 a.m., the club called him again, suggested C.K. needed to be picked up and said that “they had not been able to settle C.K. down,” the filing says
When Matthew Kittle picked up C.K. at 10:10 a.m., he found his son’s face was “badly bruised,” with his right eye swollen shut and his mouth swollen, the suit says. Once he was at home, C.K. was “extremely drowsy, lethargic, and irritable,” and his parents became concerned, the suit says
Elena Kittle spoke with an employee, who described herself as the aquatics director, at 10:44 a.m., according to the filing
The aquatics director said that C.K. “was being held by an employee who fell over while she was in a squatting position” and that “C.K. was only about ‘1.5 feet above the ground’ when the fall occurred,” the suit says. She also said that C.K. wanted to “go to sleep immediately after the fall” and that employees “had trouble keeping him awake,” the suit says
An hour later, C.K. was checked into the emergency room at a medical center in Torrance. There, the medical staff also questioned the accuracy of The Bay Club’s description of the incident, “because the injuries weren’t consistent with a fall from 1.5 feet,” the suit claims
C.K. underwent a CT scan and a neurological exam and was diagnosed with a concussion, blunt head trauma and facial abrasion, the complaint says
At 2:22 p.m. that day, Elena Kittle spoke with The Bay Club’s general manager, who said she reviewed video of the incident and also claimed C.K. fell from 1.5 feet, according to the filing
The parents asked for the video, which they received March 21, 2025 — which left them “shocked” by the “severity of the fall” and by “the fact that the Bay Club tried to cover up the true nature of the incident,” the suit says. The complaint says the video showed the child was at least 6 feet in the air — not 1.5 feet, as the club had said
Weeks after the incident, C.K. had symptoms including sensitivity to light and sound, irritability, irregular sleep, lethargy and attachment issues, the suit says. A neurology specialist who examined him in April 2025 said C.K. was still experiencing concussion symptoms, the filing says
“It was assessed that C.K. suffered a ‘definite concussion with a discrete enough force and clinical signs that indicate he’s in pain and behavioral changes,’” the complaint says. The filing says C.K. continues to experience symptoms, including loss of hearing
The suit also alleges that the daycare center was not operating legally
Under California law, childcare centers require licenses from the state Department of Social Services. Some child daycare programs can be exempt from licensing if parents and guardians are on the same premises and if they are not operated on certain sites, including malls or ski facilities
The suit alleges The Bay Club does not fall under that exception because parents are not necessarily always on the premises. Children can be left at the Bay Club El Segundo Clubhouse while parents go to The Bay Club’s Manhattan Country Club a mile away, the suit says
The club’s website says a parent or guardian has to be on-site during a reservation
The parents, represented by the law firm Rosen Saba, demand a jury trial, exemplary and punitive damages and civil and statutory penalties
