A family is suing a premium membership-based fitness and hospitality center in El Segundo after their toddler allegedly suffered a severe brain injury when an employee threw him up in the air and failed to catch him.
The Los Angeles-area family is also accusing the Bay Club, which has locations in California, Oregon and Washington, of lying about the severity and circumstances of their child’s injuries.
“The deception by the Bay Club of hiding this horrific incident from the parents is inexcusable,” said the family’s attorney, Ryan Saba of Rosen Saba. “The daycare facility should have the highest amount of care for the children, and if a child gets sick or injured, they should notify the parents with transparency and urgency.”
In a statement to The Times, 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,” the statement said.
According to the lawsuit, Matthew Kittle dropped off his 23-month-old son, referred to by the initials C.K., at the Bay Club’s El Segundo Clubhouse around 8:30 a.m. on March 17, 2025. He planned to pick up the boy from the supervised child-care center at 11:30 a.m.
The Times obtained and reviewed security camera footage from the daycare center that morning showing C.K. approach a female employee with his hands up.
The employee can be seen lifting C.K. up by his hands and swinging him between her legs twice before hoisting the toddler up into the air and over her head, letting go of his hands. At that point, the complaint alleges the toddler was 6 feet above the ground.
The employee failed to catch the boy, and he fell to the ground behind her. She then fell backward, landing on top of the child, according to the video footage.
C.K. can be seen crying as the employee holds him.
Bay Club employees called both of the toddler’s parents, and Kittle was notified that C.K. had fallen but had since calmed down, according to the complaint. During the call, employees allegedly said they did not think the toddler needed to be picked up early.
At 9:45 a.m., however, Kittle received another call from the Bay Club suggesting that C.K. did need to be picked up, as staff had been unable to settle him down.
“The Bay Club gave Mr. Kittle 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 lawsuit states.
When Kittle arrived to pick up his son from the Clubhouse, the lawsuit alleges, he saw the boy’s injuries were far more serious than he had been led to believe.
The right side of the child’s face was badly bruised, his right eye was swollen shut and his mouth was swollen, according to the lawsuit.
Upon arriving home, the complaint states, C.K. was extremely drowsy, lethargic and irritable.
Kittle called the Bay Club to ask exactly what had happened and was told his son was being held by an employee who fell over while she was in the “squatting position” — and that C.K. was only about a foot and a half off the ground at the time, the lawsuit states.
A Bay Club employee also told Kittle that C.K. “wanted to go to sleep immediately after the fall and that the Bay Club’s employees had trouble keeping him awake,” according to the lawsuit.
C.K. was taken to a hospital, where he was diagnosed with a concussion, blunt head trauma and facial abrasion.
To this day he continues to experience symptoms stemming from the injury, including loss of hearing, according to the lawsuit.
The Kittle family, which has requested privacy and declined interviews, is seeking an undisclosed amount of damages and court fees.
The post Toddler suffers brain injury after daycare worker tosses him into the air, lawsuit alleges appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
