Mother claims Baldwin day care is a health risk in lawsuit

<p>A Freeport mother is suing the day care center where she used to work and where her son attended school &ndash; calling the facility a serious health risk.&nbsp;</p>

News 12 Staff

Jun 14, 2017, 9:54 PM

Updated 2,676 days ago

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A Freeport mother is suing the day care center where she used to work and where her son attended school – calling the facility a serious health risk. 
Shaniece Ford was a teacher's assistant at the Carousel of Learning day care center in Baldwin. She says she consistently complained about moldy food, uncertified staff and bugs. 
Ford says management never took her complaints seriously and eventually fired her because she wouldn't let it go. 
Day care owner Esther White told News 12 that none of what Ford says is true.
A spokesman for the center said in a statement that the allegations are a "baseless charge" made by a "disgruntled former employee." 
According to a state database, there is a list of now-corrected violations at the day care center dating back two years. None of those violations specifically refer to moldy food or bugs. 
There were violations for unacceptable cleaning practices, unsupervised children and improper teacher-to-student ratios – among others. 
White also owns another facility in Freeport that has outstanding violations and is in danger of having its license to operate revoked. 
The state last inspected the day care on May 11 of this year and found no violations. The state says there are no outstanding violations from any previous inspections either.
The allegations were a surprise to Pastor Luonne Rouse.  His church owns the building at which the day care is run.  
"It seems to have a fairly decent reputation so this hits somewhat as a shock," says Rouse.