Another lawsuit was filed against this North TX childcare center by parents. Why?
A second lawsuit this year has been filed against a North Texas childcare center with parents accusing the center of trying to cover up incidents of mistreatment and inappropriate discipline toward their son and other children.
Parents Alexus Benavidez and Rauf Scott of Collin County filed a complaint this month against Kids ‘R’ Kids of Lawler Farm in Frisco, alleging their 3-year-old son was the victim of excessive physical force that included yanking, spanking and smacking the toddler. The boy is referred to as A.S. in the complaint.
The parents of A.S. allege the facility’s owners — Vijaykumar Selvaraj Elango and his wife, Vithya — attempted to cover up incidents of mistreatment from caregivers by deleting video footage that shows the 3-year-old being yanked by his arms and shoved into a chair at a table. This caused the boy to strike and cut his leg, and he is seen limping to get a paper towel for his bleeding leg while a caregiver ignores him, the lawsuit states.
The center, located at 7040 Independent Parkway, is also accused of failing to report this incident and other ones to the state in accordance with state law.
Kids ‘R’ Kids of Lawler Farm and Elango did not respond to requests for comment.
“I was horrified to learn that my 3-year-old son was harmed by the people we trusted to keep him safe, and they lied to me,” Benavidez said in a statement. “We are filing this lawsuit to get answers and to make sure Kids ‘R’ Kids of Lawler Farm accepts responsibility for the physical injuries and trauma our sweet son suffered.”
The lawsuit is the second one filed against the childcare center since March, when another family accused Kids ‘R’ Kids of similar mistreatment of their 3-year-old child. In a response filed in court in that case, the daycare denied the allegations. That case is scheduled for a trial in November, according to court records.
Details of the claims
Benavidez was notified in early July 2024 by Kids ‘R’ Kids management that she would be contacted by an abuse and neglect investigator from the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services because caregivers in her son’s class subjected him and “several other children” to inappropriate discipline and mistreatment “several weeks earlier,” according to the lawsuit.
“Fifteen separate videos caught the two Kids ‘R’ Kids caregivers using excessive physical force with multiple children — pulling, yanking, shoving, and striking them. Video footage from June 5, 2024, showed Kids ‘R’ Kids’ caregivers inappropriately yanking three-year-old A.S. by his arms, spanking A.S., and smacking A.S.,” according to the suit.
Before the incident leading to his leg bleeding, the parents say their son came home from the center with unexplained injuries such as a lip wound caused by his teeth biting the inside of his lip. The complaint says the parents were told the injury was caused by normal toddler play.
The lawsuit also alleges Elango attempted to hide the incidents by deleting video footage and instructing a staff member to do the same. The staff member defied management and reported the incidents to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, according to the lawsuit. An investigation by the state agency found multiple children, including 3-year-old A.S., endured inappropriate discipline and mistreatment, the suit states.
“While DFPS was investigating these incidents, Kids ‘R’ Kids of Lawler Farm was placed on a safety plan. However, during a follow-up compliance inspection, the state agency discovered the daycare center continued to ignore the additional parameters intended to keep children at the center safe,” according to The Button Law Firm, which is representing the family in the case.
Kids ‘R’ Kids of Lawler Farm has received 28 citations from July 2024 to present day, according to the suit. State compliance data shows the center had no citations on its last two inspections on March 20 and April 17.
The latest citation for the center, dated on March 11, notes that a caregiver used corporal punishment against a child.
“There is sufficient evidence to support the allegations that a caregiver used prohibited punishment when she hit a child on the face and called him a ‘baby,’” according to the citation.
On the same day as the incidents involving the 3-year-old boy that are outlined in the lawsuit, WhatsApp text messages between management and staff show that four children from another classroom were left unsupervised outside on a splash pad, the complaint states. In a text message, Elango said in response to this: “Great job from our teachers! Time for a gold medal.”
At the same time as the state investigation involving A.S., another staff member of Kids ‘R’ Kids Lawler Farm was observed “forcefully handling children and hitting a child on their back in frustration while yelling and cursing at other staff members,” according to the suit. The caregiver was fired the same day after she returned from her break smelling like marijuana, the lawsuit states.
“There is a blatant pattern of disregard for child safety at Kids ‘R’ Kids of Lawler Farm, and it needs to stop,” said lawyer Russell Button of The Button Law Firm. “It is completely unacceptable for a daycare center to enable the mistreatment of a toddler by trying to sweep it under the rug. We are determined to hold Kids ‘R’ Kids of Lawler Farm accountable for its multiple safety failures.”
The parents of A.S. are requesting a jury trial and damages of more than $250,000 but less than $1 million.
