Children spanked in closets, stuck with tacks as punishment, lawsuit says

DALLAS – Attorneys from Dallas’ Rasansky Law Firm are announcing a lawsuit filed today against a popular North Texas day care center and company officials based on information that a teacher used thumb tacks to punish a 3-year-old child.

The lawsuit filed today in Dallas state district court names as defendants Children’s World Learning Center in Addison, which now operates as KinderCare Learning Center; Barbara Lockhart, director of the Addison operation; Kim Schaffer, regional manager for Children’s World; and Portland, Ore.-based Knowledge Learning Corp., the parent company for Children’s World.

“This is one of the most egregious cases of employee misconduct and day care center abuse that I’ve ever seen,” says attorney Jeff Rasansky, who represents Brandon Medlock Sr. and Katrina Perkins in their claims on behalf of their 3-year-old son Brandon Jr.

According to the lawsuit, Mr. Medlock and Ms. Perkins learned in March that a woman who taught their son’s class at Children’s World had been punishing children by sticking them in their backs and shoulders with thumb tacks and other sharp instruments. The punishment was called “stick-stick,” and the couple’s son pointed to his teacher and thumb tacks on a bulletin board when asked to explain the term.

Mr. Medlock and Ms. Perkins, who previously had noticed pin-sized marks and scratches on their son’s back and shoulders, immediately contacted Children’s World officials about the “stick-stick” punishment and additional information about other employees spanking children in closets in order to avoid being witnessed by visitors at the center.

“Even though Children’s World, Knowledge Learning Corp. and the two highest-ranked local officials knew about these charges, they did nothing to correct the problem and they purposely failed to inform other children’s parents about what was going on,” says Mr. Rasansky. “By filing this lawsuit, we hope to protect innocent children by forcing this facility to stop these barbaric practices.”

For more information, please contact Bruce Vincent at 214-559-4630 or bruce@legalpr.com.