$16 Million

Settlement Following Infant Death at Daycare

The Case: In June 2021, a mother dropped her six-month-old son off for daycare at Carolina Kids Child Development Center in Rock Hill, South Carolina. About an hour later, a daycare worker put the infant down for a nap, placing him on his left side propped up against the spindles of the crib rather than on his back, a clear violation of her training, state DSS regulations, and well-known safe-sleep best practices. Approximately 30 minutes later, another staff member found him face down and unresponsive. The infant was airlifted to Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte where he was admitted to the PICU. He lived on life support for a week, but tragically passed away on June 28, 2021.

The Outcome: This wrongful death and corporate negligence case was litigated over the course of 2.5 years and included nearly two dozen depositions and numerous discovery motions. On the eve of trial, we secured a $16 million settlement for our deserving clients. As a result of this tragic and preventable incident, the parent corporation of this daycare, Cadence Education—which operates approximately 300 daycares nationwide—adopted additional safe sleep measures across their South Carolina locations that will hopefully prevent it from ever happening again.