Mother sues Kerrville daycare center after child fell out of high chair

A Kerrville family filed a lawsuit against the Child’s Place Learning Center, one of only a handful of private daycare centers in Kerr County, alleging neglect in the injury of their toddler, who fell from a high chair.

The lawsuit, filed last month in the 216th District Court, alleges that Child Place has a history of negligent care, cited by state inspections, and was careless on March 13 when the plaintiff, Denise Guana, said her nine-month-old son fell from a high chair.

In the court filing, Guana said her son had a knot on his head and was crying. When she confronted the daycare center, She said she received vague answers and was unsatisfied with the center’s response.

The suit claims the child ended up having a fractured clavicle and went for approximately eight hours before receiving medical attention.

The Texas Department of Health and Human Services Commission, which licenses daycare facilities, investigated the incident and found: “That at approximately 8:50 a.m., nine-month-old G.A. was seated in a tall highchair without the use of the chair’s safety straps. When the caregiver removed the feeding tray, G.A. fell headfirst from the chair, slamming the right side of his head, shoulder, and arm into the hard floor. In addition to G.A.’s fall, camera footage of the incident also showed that within minutes of G.A. falling from the highchair another infant is seen in the background attempting to climb into a chair without any supervision. This infant can then be seen falling backwards out of that chair without either of the classroom’s two caregivers noticing.”

The lawsuit alleges Child Place faced multiple complaints from Health and Human Services inspectors. The facility received nine citations from inspectors dating back to 2019. In this latest incident, the inspectors found that Child Place staff was not trained in the proper use of high chair safety straps and had falsified records of the falling incident.

Guana and her Dallas-based attorneys are asking for the maximum damages the court allows.