A Jefferson County jury has awarded $660,000 in compensatory and punitive damages against Baby Duck Academy, a Birmingham daycare, after infants were exposed to THC while in its care, according to Attorney Eric Guster.

The case centered on a nine-month-old baby who tested positive for THC in 2022. At least two children were hospitalized at the Children’s Hospital Emergency Room on the same day after their parents picked them up from the daycare.

Guster stated that during trial testimony, Baby Duck Academy’s owner, Sherman Collins, admitted he did not keep surveillance footage of the infant room. The video that could have shown what happened was deleted or allowed to be deleted. Guster said Collins and his staff also failed to cooperate with the Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR)

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