A Bay Club toddler brain injury lawsuit is drawing attention to serious questions about childcare safety after a Southern California family alleged that an employee threw their 23-month-old son into the air, failed to catch him, and left him with a traumatic brain injury. The parents further claim the club tried to downplay just how severe the fall really was.

What the Family Says Happened

Matthew and Elena Kittle filed suit on July 2 against The Bay Club, an upscale fitness and country club operator with locations across the West Coast, including the El Segundo site just south of Los Angeles.

According to the complaint, their son, identified only as C.K., was at the club’s childcare center on March 17, 2025, when an employee tossed him roughly six feet into the air and failed to catch him. The boy struck his head on the hardwood floor, and the employee then fell backward and landed on top of him. The suit says the child suffered a concussion and continues to experience lingering effects.

The morning began routinely. C.K.’s father dropped him off at the El Segundo Clubhouse, telling staff he would be at the Bay Club Manhattan Country Club, about a mile away, for the next three hours. The injury occurred at 9:20 a.m.

A Disturbing Video

Security footage included in the lawsuit paints a troubling picture. It reportedly shows a female employee holding a child by his hands and swinging him between her legs before hurling him over her head. She lets go, fails to catch him, and the boy falls to the floor behind her. The employee then tumbles backward and appears to land on top of him.

Other staff members, the video shows, reacted with visible shock and concern.

Conflicting Accounts and a Delayed Picture

What followed, the suit alleges, was a series of reassurances that didn’t match reality.

The timeline laid out in the complaint is telling:

• At 9:30 a.m., Matthew Kittle was told his son had simply fallen and had since calmed down. He said he would pick him up at the end of the session.
• At 9:45 a.m., the club called again, urging him to come sooner because staff couldn’t settle the boy down.
• By 10:10 a.m., when Kittle arrived, he found C.K.’s face badly bruised, his right eye swollen shut, and his mouth swollen.

At home, the child grew extremely drowsy, lethargic, and irritable, alarming his parents. An employee identified as the aquatics director later described the incident as a fall from a squatting position, insisting C.K. had been only about 1.5 feet above the ground. She also acknowledged the boy wanted to sleep immediately afterward and that staff struggled to keep him awake.

The Hospital Raises Doubts

C.K. was taken to an emergency room in Torrance about an hour later. There, medical staff themselves questioned the club’s account, noting the injuries were not consistent with a fall from just 1.5 feet.

After a CT scan and neurological exam, the child was diagnosed with a concussion, blunt head trauma, and a facial abrasion. Even so, the suit says the club’s general manager later repeated the 1.5-foot claim after reviewing the footage.

When the parents finally obtained the video on March 21, 2025, they were, according to the complaint, shocked by the severity of the fall and by what they describe as an attempt to conceal what truly happened. The footage, they say, showed the boy at least six feet in the air, far higher than the club had claimed.

Lingering Symptoms

The effects did not fade quickly. In the weeks after the incident, C.K. reportedly experienced sensitivity to light and sound, irritability, irregular sleep, lethargy, and attachment issues. A neurology specialist who examined him in April 2025 confirmed he was still showing concussion symptoms, describing a definite concussion accompanied by signs of pain and behavioral changes. The suit says the child continues to struggle, including with some hearing loss.

Questions About Licensing

Beyond the injury itself, the lawsuit raises a legal challenge to how the facility operated. Under California law, childcare centers generally must be licensed by the state Department of Social Services. Certain programs can be exempt if parents or guardians remain on the same premises, though not at locations like malls or ski facilities.

The Kittles argue the Bay Club doesn’t qualify for that exemption, since parents aren’t necessarily present. As their own experience illustrates, children can be left at the El Segundo Clubhouse while a parent heads to the Manhattan Country Club a mile away. The club’s website, notably, states that a parent or guardian must be on-site during a reservation.

The Claims and the Club’s Response

The complaint, filed against The Bay Clubs Co. LLC and Bay Club South Bay LLC, brings a sweeping list of allegations: negligence; negligence per se; negligent hiring, retention, and supervision; negligent infliction of emotional distress; fraud through intentional concealment; intentional infliction of emotional distress; and battery. Represented by the law firm Rosen Saba, the parents are seeking a jury trial along with punitive damages and civil and statutory penalties.

For its part, The Bay Club said it could not comment on ongoing litigation. In a statement, the company said the safety of its members, team members, and the families it serves is its highest priority.