LANCASTER, S.C. (WBTV) - A South Carolina family filed a complaint against a day care in Lancaster County alleging negligence after their toddler was allegedly injured under their care twice, according to court documents.
In a complaint filed on Friday, July 31, Andrew and Payton Ellis claimed that Buford Child Development Center failed to properly supervise their 2-year-old child, identified only as W.E., and provide the child with adequate care.
The complaint alleged on April 22, a daycare worker identified as Debbie Garrison, was left alone with six children, including the child that was allegedly injured.
According to their website, Buford Child Development Center advertises they have “ultra clean & safe spaces for peace of mind.”
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The complaint said that the Ellis family relied upon the day care to provide supervision, a safe environment with adequately trained staff.
Court documents said that Buford Child Development Center “touted its safety protocols further such as security cameras monitoring and lowered child-to-teacher ratios.” The room that the child was allegedly injured in was visible at all times by camera.
The complaint said that on April 22, the child allegedly sustained a complete fracture of the femur under the care of Buford Child Development Center.
The child allegedly “slipped and fell” inside a classroom and the mother Payton Ellis was not notified for more than thirty minutes after the reported injury, according to court documents.
Court documents claimed that when arriving at the day care the child was sitting in rocking chair alone and was crying and sobbing.
The child was taken to a hospital in Lancaster where he underwent surgery on the femur, the complaint said.
According to court documents, the Ellis family spent more than $70,000 on medical expenses.
The complaint alleged that the owner of Buford Child Development Center, John Ryan Whitaker, allegedly refused to provide security footage of the alleged incident. The complaint alleged that Whitaker was unable to remove or blur other people from the video.
Court documents said that the Ellis family had to wait for more than two months for the South Carolina Department of Social Services to investigate.
In the video obtained by WBTV, a child can be seen walking towards a small table when he appears to slip on the floor. The child appears to take a hard fall to the ground and can be seen crying in pain.
In another video it appears that a daycare worker is walking towards the table and the child was still on the ground. The daycare worker can be seen picking up something off the table and seemingly ignoring the child on the ground.
The complaint said that the child remained on the floor for approximately 14 minutes before anyone aided the child. Court documents said that the child appeared to be in Garrison’s line of sight.
Court documents alleged that Garrison “repeatedly turn a blind eye to the minor child while actively moving around the room in close proximity to the minor child.”
The complaint also alleged that Garrison was seen grabbing another child by the arm and hitting the child.
According to court documents, back on January 22, three months before the child fractured his femur the child allegedly fractured his ankle while at the day care.
The complaint said that the child fell while he was walking with only socks on. The Ellis family was not made of aware of the injury until pick up time after the child was allegedly crying for several hours.
According to court documents, no one had information on how the child may gotten injured. The video that the family was able to see allegedly showed the child wearing only socks.
The family allegedly voiced concerns to the director of the day care, Tammy Hildreath, and other employees over the supervision and asked the day care to implement safety measures including keeping shoes on, court documents said.
The complaint alleged that Whitaker, Hildreath, Garrison and the daycare employees failed to make any corrective action to prevent an injury from happening again.
The family is seeking compensation in an amount to determined by a jury.