A lawsuit says video contradicted employees’ accounts of how the 23-month-old suffered a concussion at an El Segundo childcare center.
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — A Southern California couple is suing The Bay Club after a childcare employee allegedly threw their 23-month-old son into the air, failed to catch him and caused him to strike his head on a hardwood floor.
Matthew and Elena Kittle allege that their son, identified in court documents by the initials C.K., suffered a concussion, blunt head trauma and other injuries in the March 17, 2025, fall at the El Segundo Clubhouse. Their lawsuit, filed July 2 against The Bay Clubs Co. LLC and Bay Club South Bay LLC, also accuses club employees of giving the parents a misleading account of what happened.
The Bay Club said it could not comment on pending litigation. “At the Bay Club, the safety of our members, team members, and the families we serve is our highest priority,” the company said in a statement. The allegations have not been proven in court, and the company has not filed a publicly reported response addressing each claim in the complaint.
According to the lawsuit, Matthew Kittle dropped C.K. off at the club’s childcare facility before going to the Bay Club Manhattan Country Club, about a mile away. The complaint says the child was injured at about 9:20 a.m. while in the care of club employees.
Security video included with the lawsuit appears to show a female employee holding the child by his hands and swinging him between her legs. She then lifts him over her head and releases his hands, the complaint says. The employee does not catch the child before he falls behind her, hits the floor and is struck as the employee falls backward, according to the filing and descriptions of the video.
The lawsuit says a club employee called Matthew Kittle about 10 minutes later and reported that C.K. had “fallen” but had calmed down. Kittle initially said he would retrieve his son after his scheduled session. A second call came at about 9:45 a.m., when employees said they had been unable to settle the child and asked that he be picked up, the complaint says.
When Kittle arrived at about 10:10 a.m., he found his son with extensive bruising on the right side of his face, a swollen mouth and an eye that was swollen shut, according to the suit. After the child was taken home, his parents became concerned because he was unusually drowsy, lethargic and irritable.
Elena Kittle later spoke with a club employee who identified herself as the aquatics director, the complaint says. The employee allegedly said a worker had fallen while holding C.K. in a squatting position and that the child had been about 1.5 feet above the floor. She also allegedly said employees had difficulty keeping him awake after the fall.
C.K. was checked into an emergency room in Torrance later that morning. Medical workers performed a CT scan and neurological examination and diagnosed him with a concussion, blunt head trauma and a facial abrasion, according to the complaint. The suit says medical staff questioned whether those injuries were consistent with the account that the child had fallen only 1.5 feet.
The parents requested the security video and received it four days later, the lawsuit says. They allege the recording showed their son had been thrown about 6 feet into the air, sharply contradicting what club representatives had told them. The complaint characterizes those earlier accounts as an effort to conceal the severity and cause of the fall.
In the weeks after the incident, C.K. experienced sensitivity to light and sound, irregular sleep, irritability, lethargy and behavioral changes, the filing says. A neurology specialist who examined him in April 2025 found that he continued to show concussion symptoms, according to the complaint. His parents also allege that he continues to experience hearing loss and other effects.
The lawsuit alleges negligence, negligent hiring and supervision, fraud through intentional concealment, emotional distress and battery. The parents are seeking a jury trial, damages and civil penalties in amounts that would be determined through the court process.
No court finding has established that The Bay Club or its employees are liable for the child’s injuries. The litigation remains pending, and further details about the company’s response and the child’s current medical condition have not been publicly released.
Author note: Last updated July 12, 2026.