South Austin Daycare Center Hit with Second Abuse Lawsuit

Two suits filed by The Button Law Firm claim The Children's Courtyard systemically broke daycare safety laws, harmed toddlers

AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- A second Austin family has come forward with daycare abuse allegations against The Children's Courtyard, located on West William Cannon Drive. Janese Milivojevic is suing the South Austin center, claiming that as she watched the center's live surveillance feed, she witnessed caregivers abuse her 18-month-old daughter and other toddlers in her daughter's class on the child's second day attending the center in May 2023.

The complaint states Milivojevic saw a caregiver at The Children's Courtyard push a little girl to the ground, then walk away from the crying toddler. Horrified, Milivojevic began recording the live feed with her smartphone. She then spotted her daughter playing in the classroom and watched as the caregiver aggressively yanked, dangled, and swung the toddler by the arms before dropping her onto a nap mat. The lawsuit states the caregiver also pulled the mat, which made Milivojevic's daughter fall face-first on it, and failed to check if the toddler was hurt. In another attempt to get the little girl to lie down on her mat, the caregiver grabbed the toddler by her left arm, tossed her on top of the child on an adjacent mat, lifted her again, and slammed the child down on the mat, covering her head-to-toe with a blanket.

Milivojevic states in the lawsuit she witnessed a second frustrated caregiver also break Texas daycare laws by aggressively handling another child—a little boy—in the classroom in the same manner as the other caregiver abused her daughter. The caregiver yanked the boy, dangled and swung him, tossed him on the mat, then lifted him and threw him down again, and covered him head-to-toe with a blanket.

Milivojevic immediately left work and pulled her daughter from The Children's Courtyard. The lawsuit states she reported what she witnessed via the livestream to the daycare center's director, and continued to follow up for one week until she received a response from the director that "corrective actions were taken for this incident." However, Milivojevic later learned that the two caregivers at The Children's Courtyard were not terminated, and the center did not report the incident to the state as required by law.

Unbeknownst to Milivojevic, Alexis Dominguez, the mother of the little boy she watched being mishandled in her May 2023 recording, also filed a lawsuit against The Children's Courtyard. In that lawsuit, the Dominguez boy's father claims he witnessed his son being abused by a caregiver via the center's livestream in July 2023. The complaint has since been amended to include the incident two months prior.

"My heart sank when I saw my daughter and other children being harmed at The Children's Courtyard by the adults who were supposed to protect them," says Milivojevic. "My daughter was only at The Children's Courtyard for two days. Working parents should not have to balance doing their job and watching a daycare center's livestream to ensure their child is not being harmed."

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission cited The Children's Courtyard in South Austin 25 times for safety deficiencies between October 2018 and March 2023, just two months before the incident involving Milivojevic's daughter. The center has been cited by the state agency an additional 50 times for the same safety failures including having unqualified and untrained caregivers charged with watching over children, using prohibited discipline tactics, neglecting to report incidents to the state, and not following basic hygiene requirements from July 2023 through August 2024.

"It is clear that systemic safety failures at The Children's Courtyard are endangering innocent children," says daycare and childcare injury lawyer Russell Button of The Button Law Firm, who represents Milivojevic and the Dominguez families in separate lawsuits against the daycare center. "The lack of concern for abuse allegations for one child led to another child being harmed. Texas has daycare safety laws in place to hold negligent facilities like The Children's Courtyard accountable."

The two daycare abuse cases against The Children's Courtyard are:

• Janese Milivojevic, Individually and as parent and next friend of N.M., a minor child, vs. W.O.S., Inc. d/b/a The Children's Courtyard, Inc., Cause No. D-1-GN-24-007528 in the 98th Civil District Court of Travis County, Texas. A copy of the complaint can be accessed here.
• Alexis Dominguez, Individually and as parent and next friend of L.D., a minor child, vs. W.O.S., Inc. d/b/a The Children's Courtyard, Inc., Cause No. D-1-GN24-004072 in the 53rd Civil District Court of Travis County, Texas. A copy of the amended complaint can be accessed here.

About The Button Law Firm
The Button Law Firm (buttonlawfirm.com) is a Texas-based personal injury law firm that advocates for children and their families in meaningful litigation to make local communities safer. The firm focuses on daycare and childcare injuries such as abuse and neglect cases, bottle warmer burns, traumatic brain injuries, and catastrophic injuries. With offices in Dallas, Houston, and Midland, The Button Law Firm helps families move forward across the Lone Star State.

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SOURCE The Button Law Firm