Father says 5-year-old 'could be dead' after being left on Arlington Heights daycare bus for 3 hours: lawsuit

Attorneys for the family of a 5-year-old girl who was left unattended on a daycare bus for nearly three hours have filed a lawsuit against KinderCare in Arlington Heights.

Child Left on Bus

The backstory:

A teacher from South Arlington Heights KinderCare accidently left a child on a bus when students went back into the center, daycare officials announced in an email to parents on Tuesday.

Arlington Heights police said all the other children exited the bus and went inside the center at 1003 S. Arlington Heights Rd. Once they were inside, they realized the child was missing and found them asleep on the bus.

Paramedics were called to check on the child, and they were sent to a local hospital where they were cleared.

Sarah Grupe, the area leader at KinderCare, said the teacher who left the student and the center director have been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.

The Lawsuit

What we know:

The lawsuit, filed in Cook County Court, states that the family of the child, Dior Mwiya, wants accountability from KinderCare for the alleged conduct and violations of safety protocols. 

The lawsuit provided additional details about the incident, claiming that Dior was mistakenly left on a daycare bus after being picked up from school, where she remained for hours until her father’s partner, Caitlynn Gonzalez, discovered her in a hypothermic condition.

According to Gonzalez, a KinderCare employee initially told the family that Dior had not been picked up by the bus that day. 

"She could have died. She could have died today. She could be dead," said Dior’s father, Wamui Mwiya.

Dior was taken to the hospital, where she was treated for hypothermia, the lawsuit states. She is currently recovering at home.

According to the lawsuit, KinderCare admitted that its bus safety protocols were not followed. The daycare said it will work with state licensing authorities and law enforcement to address the situation.

The Mwiya family is seeking damages for the alleged physical, emotional and psychological harm Dior endured. 

They are also calling for systemic changes to ensure incidents like this are prevented in the future.

What they're saying:

Following the incident, Grupe acknowledged the incident in an email to parents, stating:

"We have several safety protocols that should have prevented this kind of situation. Unfortunately, those protocols were not followed. We reported this issue to state licensing and to the police are working with them to determine what happened and what we can do to ensure nothing like this ever happens again."

An attorney for the family, Jake Esp, also issued a statement addressing the incident.

"As a father myself, to have a small child left alone in these conditions due to the negligence of those entrusted to Dior’s safety is reprehensible. This should never happen to anyone’s child. When a parent sends their child to daycare, you trust the facility and their employees to ensure their safety. We intend to prosecute this case to the fullest extent of the law."

The Source: The information from this article was provided by KinderCare in Arlington Heights and the Law Offices of Parente & Norem, P.C. Attorney Jake R. Esp.

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