A toddler suffered sickening abuse, including having his eyes sprayed with bleach, by staff at his Manhattan daycare \u2014 and is now set to pocket a more than $300,000 settlement when he turns 18, new court papers reveal.<\/p>\n
Parents Myriam Coulibaly and Christopher Luboja agreed to settle their potential lawsuit against the major daycare operator Bright Horizons \u2014 which counts more than two dozen locations across New York City, according to the filing in Manhattan Supreme Court.<\/p>\n
The now-3-year-old boy, identified by the initials \u201cT.L.\u201d in court docs, was allegedly physically abused by workers at Bright Horizon\u2019s Columbus Circle location for several months, beginning in late 2024 to early last year, the filing states.<\/p>\n
Evelyn Vargas, a former Bright Horizon day care employee, in court on July 30, 2025, after being charged with abusing a child at a center in Manhattan. Steven Hirsch for NY Post<\/p>\n
The Bright Horizon employees allegedly sprayed the child\u2019s eyes with bleach. Steven Hirsch for NY Post<\/p>\n
The parents recounted their nightmare experience, describing their struggle to understand what was happening to their young son, who lacked the words to describe his mistreatment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cT.L. was not yet of the age where he could speak to orate what happened to him,\u201d but \u201cthere were signs, including his eyes being irritated after coming home from the daycare and bleach-like stains appearing on his clothing,\u201d the papers filed Friday state.<\/p>\n
Still, it wasn\u2019t until a criminal probe into abuse at the now-shuttered Bright Horizons location that the tortured tot\u2019s plight came to light, according to the court docs.<\/p>\n
Several employees were arrested and charged last year \u2014 finally allowing T.L.\u2019s parents \u201cto understand and piece together what had happened to their son at the hands of BH while he was enrolled in BH\u2019s daycare program,\u201d the filing states.<\/p>\n
Parents Myriam Coulibaly and Christopher Luboja agreed to drop a potential lawsuit after a $300,000 settlement with Bright Horizons. Steven Hirsch for NY Post<\/p>\n
Luckily for the boy, the eye irritation subsided after his parents removed him from Bright Horizons, with doctors agreeing that his vision was not permanently damaged, according to the documents.<\/p>\n
The family agreed to a $142,000 payout. But because of T.L.\u2019s age the money will be held in a fund until he turns 18, growing to at least $332,000, court records state \u2014 or roughly $83,000 annually for four years.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n