December 15, 2025

TOWN AND COUNTRY COMPLAINT

 

            This Complaint is filed on behalf of ******, (DOB 0/0/2019) a ____ year old child with a diagnosis of Speech or Language Impairment, and his parents and guardians, ******, and  ****** against the Town and Country Childcare Centers for their violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

 

  1. PARTIES

    1. ******* (“*****”) and his parents, *******, and ******* reside in Middletown, Connecticut. ***** was identified by the Middletown Public Schools as eligible for Special Education Services. His disability was Speech or Language Impairment in May of 2022 and as such is a person with a disability as contemplated by the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) 42 U.S.C. §§ 12102.
    2. The Town and Country Childcare Centers (“Town and Country”) are located in Middletown and Southington, Connecticut, with a third Center scheduled to be opened in Colchester in 2023. ***** attended the Middletown location. Town and Country is a private childcare program open to the public.
    3. Care for Kids is a federally funded program that is administered by the State of Connecticut Office of Early Childhood. 42 U.S.C. 618, 9858; 63 CFR 39981.

  2. FACTS

    1. ****** was enrolled in The Town and Country Center in Middletown, Connecticut in September of 2022. At the time of his enrollment, ***** was three years and three months old.
    2. In the spring of 2022, prior to his enrollment in Town and Country, Ms. **** referred ***** to the Middletown Public Schools regarding a possible expressive speech delay.
    3. In May of 2022, at age two years and eleven months, ****** was evaluated by the Middletown Public Schools Department of Pupil Services. The findings and recommendations of the Evaluation were as follows.
      1. ***** met all of his motor milestones.
      2. *****’s verbal milestones were delayed.
      3. ***** made eye contact, smiled, and listened to the evaluator.
      4. ***** enjoyed simple games, enjoyed eliciting laughter from others, and demonstrated good play skills with same aged peers.
      5. ***** could follow simple commands.
      6. ***** communicated with single words and with pointing and reaching.
      7. ***** did well in communicating through non-verbal means – pointing, leading, handing items.
      8. In emergent language testing, ***** scored in the “Average” range in the “Receptive Language” category –i.e., he could follow two and three step directions, could complete directions with familiar objects, and could perform simple actions on request.
      9. ****** had delays in expressive language and was most comfortable communicating through pointing, leading and handing items.
      10. ******’s areas of strength included daily routines, cooperation in dressing and undressing, separating appropriately from parents and engaging in self-directed activities.
      11. *****’s areas of need included development of vocabulary.
    4. The evaluation also provided a comprehensive list of reasonable modifications in a group setting:
      1. modeling of language
      2. modeling of peer interations and exchanges
      3. concrete language with gestures and repetiton
      4. daily reading with an adult
      5. daily specific times to engage in communication including specific requests for toys, encouraging specific requests for preferered activities, etc.
    5. *****’s parents are employed. They idenitifed Town and Country as an appropriate, proximate child care facitiliy. ***** enrolled in the Town and Country Childcare Center in September of 2022. Prior to the enrollment, *****’s parents met with the Center’s Assistant Director and specifically explained that ***** had some speech delays and periodic frustration around communication. The Assistant Director did not express any concern and commented that the school had another student with a similar disability.
    6. ***** enrolled at Town and Country in October of 2022.
    7. *****’s tutition was paid for by the “Care for Kids” program. Care for Kids is a federally funded program that is administered through the Office of Early Childhood. As such, Town and Country Care for Kids is required to abide by state and federal law.
    8. On 11/18/2022, an Individualized Education Plan (“IEP”) was developed for ***** by the Middletown Public School. The ‘Primary Disability’ was “Speech or Language Impairment”. The services included in the IEP were limited to Speech and Language services to be provided to ***** 12.5 hours per week at Town and Country. Another child attending Town and Country also received speech and language service from the public school system on site at Town and Country.
    9. A regularly schedule “Planning and Placement” (“PPT”) team meeting was held for ***** in February of 2023. The November IEP was modified to shift the location of the services to the Snow School, a public school located in Middletown, Connecticut. The Primary Disability and the breadth of the services were not changed.
    10. The IEP did not contain any directives around supports relative to behaviors, the need for 1:1 para-professional assistance, etc. Rather, the IEP noted the ***** was attending private child care program for 27.5 hours per week.
    11. Town and Country was well aware that ***** was a student with a disability. Staff at Town and Country were notificed of the PPT meetings. These meetings were conducted remotely. Town and Country staff did not attend these meetings.
    12. At multiple times during his tenure at Town and Country, text messages were forwarded to classroom parents by Town and Country, inquiring about attendance. Town and Country was forwarding these requests as they were experiencing staff shortages.
    13. At no time prior to April of 2023  did Town and Country reach out to *****’s parents regarding  behaviors that were described as so extreme that Town and Country was considering expelling ***** from their program
    14. At no time during his tenure at Town and Country was there ever any discussion of Town and Country not being an appropriate setting for *****.
    15. At no time during *****’s tenure at Town and Country did any staff person conduct an Inidivdualized Assessment relative to a perceived need for modificaions at Town and Country related to *****’s disability.
    16. On Wedensday, April 12, 2023, at approximately 9:00 a.m. Ms. ***** received a call from Town and Country requesting that she pick ***** up early. She was further instructed not to bring him back to Town and Country until the following Monday.
    17. Town and Country informed Ms. ***** that the reason for the removal was a behavioral incident precipitated by the schools refusal to allow ***** to eat his lunch, rather than his snack, during the morning hours.
    18. On April 12, 2023, *****’s father sent an email to Town and Country expressing his concern that ***** was suspended from the program for three days.
    19. At 4:43 on April 12, 2023, Town and Country sent an email to *****’s parents that he was “disenrolled” immediately.
    20. ***** and Mr. ***** had no prior notice of the school’s intention to expel *****. Prior to this unilateral determination to barr ***** from the program, there was no meeting and no individualized assessment with the parents, the public school, or any of his health care providers to assess possible reasonable modifications.
    21. ***** and Mr. ***** had no immediate child care alternatives.
    22. Based on the failure of Town and Country to provide discuss or attempt reasonable modifications for ***** he was denied the full enjoyment of the program.
    23. ***** and Mr. ***** experienced financial loss and emotional distress based on the failure of Town and Country to comply with the ADA.

  3. ANALYSIS

    1. Town and Country is a private entity that owns or leases places of public accommodation, and therefore is a public accommodation within the meaning of Title III of the ADA, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12181 (7) ; 28 C.F.R. § 36.104.
    2. Children with a speech or language deficit have an impairment that substantially limits one or more life activities. ***** has a diagnosis of Speech or Language deficit and therefore has a disability within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. § 12102, 28 C.F.R. § 36.104 and is covered by the protections of the ADA.
    3. ***** and ***** are the parents of a child with a disability protected by the ADA. They are protected from discrimination by a public entity because of a known disability of someone with whom they have a relationship or association.
    4. Title III of the ADA prevents a public accommodation from discriminating against an individual on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of its goods and services. 42 U.S.C. § 12182(a); 28 C.F.R. § 36.201. Title III also prohibits public accommodations from failing or refusing to make reasonable modifications to its policies, practices, and procedures as necessary to avoid discrimination on the basis of disability, unless the public accommodation can demonstrate that making the modifications would fundamentally alter the nature of the services 42 U.S.C. §§ 12182(b)(2)(A)(ii); 28 C.F.R. § 36.302. Title III also prohibits public accommodations from discriminating against an individual because of the known disability of an individual with whom the individual is known to have a relationship or association. 42 U.S.C. §§ 12182(b)(E); 28 C.F.R. §36.205.
    5. Town and Country discriminated against ***** by excluding him from participation and denying him the full benefits of its services and by subjecting him to discrimination on the basis of disability. Town and Country refused to make any reasonable modifications to their policies, practices, and procedures. The modifications requested in no way constituted a fundamental alteration of the nature of their services.
    6. Town and Country further discriminated against ***** by expelling him from the program based on his disability.
    7. Town and Country discriminated against ***** and ***** by denying them and their child with a disability full participation in and access to their place of public accommodation.

  4. DAMAGES

    1. Town and Country was the Ms *****t’s and Mr. *****’s sole source of childcare for Tatum starting in September of 2022.
    2. Town and Country expelled ***** from their program with no notice. There had been no individualized assessment, no discussions, no warnings and no telephone notice of their intent to expell ***** with no prior notice. Ms. ***** and Mr. ***** were shocked to learn of Town and Country’s actions in an email on April 12, 2022. They had no access to family child care support nor were they connected to any other child care facility. As a result of the actions of Town and Country, they suffered financial damages in excess of $******
    3. ***** and his parents continue to suffer from the failure of Town and Country to comply with the ADA. Beyond being distraught by their treatment by Town and Country, their job security was threatened by the unanticipated loss of childcare which impacted their work schedule. Also, based on the actions of Town and Country that occurred in the spring of 2023, they have not been able to locate alternative, affordable childcare.

                    

CONCLUSION

 

Complainant ***** and his parents and guardians *****  and ***** are requesting relief including but not limited to:

 

  1. That Town and Country comply with the requirements of Title III of the ADA.
  2. That Town and Country not discriminate against any individual on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of its goods, services, facilities, privileges, or accommodations.
  3. That Town and Country not discriminate against parents who are associated or affiliated with a child with a disability in the full and equal enjoyment of its goods, services, facilities, privileges or accommodations by denying them the equal services that are offered to parents of children without disabilities.
  4. That Town and Country provide reasonable modification to their programs, policies and, procedures for children and parents with disabilities.
  5. That Town and Country be required to conduct an individualized assessment for children with disabilities.
  6. That Town and Country develop policies and procedures regarding their obligations under Title III of the ADA.
  7. That Town and Country implement a training program for all staff regarding their obligations under Title III of the ADA.
  8. That Town and Country notifiy all current and future parents that they are obligatied to comply with the Title III of the ADA, including placing this information in their hard copy and online materials.
  9. That Town and Coutry reach out to parents who have been either denied access to the program or whose children have been expelled from the program based on identified for perceived disabilities.
  10. That ***** and ***** be awarded damages for injuries caused by Town and Country’s violation of Title III of the ADA.
  11. That ***** and ***** be awarded any additional relief that is warranted.

     

Respectfully submitted,

 

Bonnie B. Roswig

Director, Disability Rights Project
Medical-Legal Partnership
Center for Children’s Advocacy
65 Elizabeth Street
Hartford, CT   06105
(860) 566 – 0836

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