A lawsuit against a northeast Dallas day care alleges a kindergartener was pushed out of a chair by a staff member and that her class was required to do push-ups and wall sits as a form of punishment.
The negligence lawsuit, filed in a Dallas County court May 18 against East Ridge Academy by parent April Wallace, seeks more than $1 million in damages. East Ridge Academy did not immediately respond to multiple requests for comment.
The lawsuit alleges Wallace’s 6-year-old daughter was inappropriately disciplined Aug. 8 when she and her class were made to do push-ups as a form of punishment. The children were also punished with wall sits, according to records from Texas Health and Human Services’ child care regulation division.
Russell Button, an attorney representing Wallace and her child, said a day care employee routinely required the children to do push-ups and wall sits, in addition to yelling at them, withholding snack time and “putting her hands on kids” as a form of discipline.
Additionally, the lawsuit says the same employee — who has not been identified — pushed Wallace’s child out of her chair during a painting activity later that day. The girl hit her head and suffered bodily injuries, the lawsuit alleges, and the day care did not immediately contact Wallace, emergency services or the state to report the injuries.
“Since that time, she’s had significant psychological problems,” Button said.
According to Button, the employee involved in the incidents is no longer employed at East Ridge Academy.
“What happened … was preventable,” the lawsuit says.
According to state records, the day care was found deficient of at least two child care licensing rules in an investigation into the incidents mentioned in the lawsuit, including corporal punishment and humiliating, rejecting or yelling at a child. Mandated training was held in response to the deficiencies, the records say.
The lawsuit lists 12 other cases in which the facility was cited by the state from April 2019 through September, ranging from deficiencies in employee training to discipline methods.
“We just want to make sure this doesn’t happen to other kids,” Button said.