NBC DFW is reporting on a lawsuit filed by The Button Law Firm on behalf of the Harris family after their 4-year-old son was restrained, dragged, yelled at, and thrown to the floor inside a Fort Worth daycare classroom.
The case against Arka Montessori Academy of Risinger is not only about what happened to the child in that moment. It is also about what happened after.
Months later, the Harris family says their son is still struggling with anxiety, regression, and emotional trauma that now requires therapy.
“This child’s life was completely changed. It was turned upside down,” Texas daycare injury lawyer Russell Button told NBC DFW. “He has regressed in ways his family never expected, and now he is having to work through that in therapy.”
The Injuries Lasted Longer Than the Bruises
The Harris family’s son suffered bruising and other physical injuries after being aggressively handled inside the daycare.
But the physical injuries were only part of what his parents saw after that day.
Their son became more anxious. He struggled emotionally. Raised voices and loud noises could trigger fear. His parents watched him regress in ways they had not seen before the incident.
The family eventually had to make difficult decisions about his care because he no longer felt safe in a daycare environment.
That lasting impact is one of the most important parts of this case.
When a trusted adult becomes the source of fear, a young child can carry that experience long after the physical injury is gone.
Surveillance Footage Showed Adults Failing to Protect Him
NBC DFW reviewed surveillance footage provided by The Button Law Firm showing the teacher grab and shake the 4-year-old.
Moments later, another caregiver entered the classroom.
The teacher then grabbed the Harris family’s son again and dragged him and another child closer together.
The state investigation later uncovered that the teacher encouraged the other child to attack and fight the 4-year-old while restraining him during the confrontation.
The teacher eventually pulled the child’s leg out from underneath him and threw him down “like a human rag doll.”
“Caregivers were watching, didn’t intervene to protect our child, to properly separate these two kids,” Russell Button told NBC DFW.
Texas Health and Human Services Cited the Daycare for Prohibited Punishment
After reviewing what happened, Texas Health and Human Services cited Arka Montessori for violating Texas childcare safety rules because of how the 4-year-old was handled.
For parents, that means the conduct was not simply inappropriate or concerning. State regulators found that the daycare failed to follow rules designed to protect children from harmful discipline and unsafe caregiver behavior.
NBC DFW reported that one of those findings involved prohibited punishment that caused bruising to the child’s arm and resulted in him falling backward after the teacher grabbed his leg.
Texas daycare caregivers are not permitted to use punishment methods that involve harmful physical force, grabbing, pulling, yelling, humiliation, or other conduct that can injure or frighten a child.
Those protections exist because the effects of prohibited punishment can last far beyond the moment it happens. A child may begin to fear adults, classrooms, raised voices, or even returning to daycare long after the visible injuries are gone.
The Harris Family Is Still Living with the Impact
The Harris family trusted Arka Montessori to protect their son.
Instead, they are now helping him work through the impact of what happened inside that classroom.
For this family, the case did not end when the video stopped.
The Button Law Firm filed this lawsuit to hold Arka Montessori accountable for the prohibited punishment, supervision failures, and lack of intervention that injured the Harris family’s son.
At The Button Law Firm, we represent kids in daycare and child injury cases to help them get life-changing results and justice against bad daycares, schools, and companies that abuse and neglect the safety of children.
If your child was seriously injured at daycare or you have concerns about changes in your child’s behavior after a daycare incident, call 214-699-4409, email intake@buttonlawfirm.com, or fill out our contact form to share your story or experience with our team.
.png)
.png)
