Whistleblower in daycare case files suit
Oct. 7—TRAVERSE CITY — A former Central Day Care Center employee filed a civil lawsuit alleging she was fired after reporting abuse in the classroom.
This suit follows an investigation into allegations of fourth-degree child abuse at the center this spring. The focus of that investigation — 22-year-old Grace LaCoste — pleaded no contest to one count of child abuse last month.
According to police reports, LaCoste kicked a 3-year-old boy after he climbed into another child's cot during naptime, and forcibly removed a 3-year-old girl from a table after she climbed onto it while playing with other children.
Both incidents were videotaped and reviewed by Grand Traverse County Sheriff's Office Detective Michael Matteucci.
The plaintiff in the civil lawsuit, Cami Tyler, alleges that Central Day Care Center fired her after she followed state-mandated protocols in these incidents caused by her coworker, LaCoste.
Tyler worked in the same classroom as LaCoste and was hired on April 14, approximately one month before the incidents occurred.
"During her time in the classroom, Plaintiff witnessed criminal and otherwise wrongful acts towards children by Grace LaCoste, including assault and child abuse for which she has now been convicted," the suit states.
The suit alleges Tyler's bosses told her not to document anything unless there were obvious signs of an injury.
Once there was an injury, she says they told her what to write on the incident report "in an effort [to] cover-up the illegal conduct."
The directors of the center never informed the child's parents of how the boy got injured, according to the suit. When the center was under investigation by the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), the lawsuit claims that Tyler's bosses knew she was being interviewed by investigators.
"During Plaintiff's interview, she informed the investigator that she witnessed the assault, reported it to Defendant immediately and was forced by Defendant's Directors to write a falsified report and remain silent about what she saw," the suit states.
After reporting the abuse and speaking with investigators, which is protected under the state's Whistleblower's Protection Act, she was fired, Tyler claims. She's demanding a jury trial and more than $25,000 in damages.
Central Day Care Center's lawyer, William Ewald, said Thursday that he was not aware of the lawsuit and would not be able to comment on it until he could review it.
The daycare center was previously cited by LARA for regulatory violations for neglect and inappropriate disciplinary methods. A report from February 2022, following up on allegations made the prior November, found that some of the employees responded to behavioral issues by forcefully pushing children to the ground to get them to sit down, clapping in children's faces to keep them from falling asleep, and withholding lunch as punishment. The center was given a first provisional license and required to file a corrective action plan.
Since then, the center received a citation in March for allegations that a child had been left unattended on the playground in January. A different abuse investigation resulted in no citation in May.
Signs outside the center on Barnes Road say "Now Hiring" and "Under New Management."
LaCoste was not named directly as a defendant in the civil suit. Her sentencing by Judge Michael Stepka is scheduled for Oct. 19.
