A local daycare and its administrators are facing a lawsuit claiming a toddler was physically assaulted while in their care and, despite allegedly knowing about the incident, they failed to report the assault to the proper authorities.
The lawsuit, filed in Hamilton County Circuit Court on Sept. 23, states the 1-year-old child's mother received a phone call on Nov. 13, 2018 from someone who said she was an employee of Kids Rock, Inc. The person said she had learned that another employee assaulted the child on or about Nov. 7, 2018.
The mother then called the daycare director, Rachel Stoval, who told her that an employee, identified only as "Maggie" had "done 'something' to the child," the lawsuit states. She told the mother that Maggie had "picked up the child by an arm and 'put' the child in a cot."
Maggie's actions "didn't sit well with me," Stoval added, according to the lawsuit.
The child's mother, father and grandfather then called police to meet them at the daycare.
With the police officer present, Stoval showed them an approximately seven-second clip of a video that showed Maggie grabbing the child by her right arm, lifting her and "slung the child onto a cot over a 5 to 6-foot distance," the lawsuit states.
Kids Rock, Inc., declined to comment.
The parents had noticed the child was "fearful of going to Kids Rock" between Nov. 7 and 13, and "she was favoring her right arm," the lawsuit states.
The police officer asked Stoval to provide him with a copy of the video, but Stoval initially refused, the lawsuit states. Only after the officer insisted did she provide a trimmed copy.
Stoval acknowledged she knew about the alleged assault on Nov. 7, according to the lawsuit, but she allowed Maggie to work with children "for nearly one week." Stoval reportedly said she fired Maggie on Nov. 13.
Additionally, Stoval didn't call police, the lawsuit states. It was the child's parents who called police.
"[The] defendants had a duty to immediately contact parents, law enforcement and the Tennessee Department of Children's Services upon discover of 'Maggie's' assault upon the child," according to the lawsuit.
"By failing to supervise 'Maggie,' Kids Rock ... allowed an unreasonably dangerous condition to exist despite their superior knowledge of the risk and harm posed by 'Maggie.'"
An employee for Kids Rock said Stoval no longer works at the daycare.
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