Mother sues day care over viral video of toddler’s Easter bunny scare
Mother sues day care for posting video of her two-year-daughter being terrified by the Easter bunny on Snapchat before it went viral and claims her child is now in THERAPY because of the fallout
- Surai Bryson, 2, was panicked by the Easter Bunny’s visit to her Florida day care
- The video went viral when a school employee posted it on social media
- Her mother Cassandra Bryson is suing the day care for recording the video without her permission
- She claims she signed a waiver which forbade videos and photos of her child
- Her mother says Surai is now in therapy to cope with the unwanted fame
- Jimmy Kimmel even showed the viral video in his late night show monologue
- ‘This is not funny. My child is hurt,’ Surai’s angry mother said
The mother of a two-year-old girl who received unwanted fame from a viral video of her daughter being scared by the Easter Bunny is suing the day care where the video was taken.
Cassandra Bryson says she signed a form denying Around the World Learning Center in Kissimmee, Florida, permission to photograph or record her toddler Surai Bryson.
The March video was shared on Snapchat by a day care employee, then viewed thousands of times online and even made its way to television, showing Surai’s horrified reaction when a person dressed as the Easter bunny walked into the day care classroom.
Bryson claims Surai is now in therapy to cope with the scare and fall out of becoming an internet sensation.
Surai was captured on video getting frightened by the Easter Bunny when it walked into her classroom in March
Her mother Cassandra Bryson is suing the day care for recording the video without her permission
The teachers filmed Surai screaming in fear and shared the clip on Snapchat.
It then went viral and even Jimmy Kimmel showed it during one of his opening monologues on his show.
‘What’s most upsetting is that this will be forever. There will never be a time that we can put this behind us. I do believe for years to come that this will rehash and come back up on social media,’ Bryson said.
The lawsuit claims the day care violated the family’s privacy request especially after Surai’s mother had filled out a form expressly forbidding the day care from videotaping the little girl.
‘I think this is an absolute case of negligence. I think there’s also malice here as well on the part of that employee for disseminating that video,’Attorney Scott Leeds said.
‘As a result of these actions, the lawsuit seeks damages against the daycare center for the severe emotional trauma and mental distress Surai suffered,’ said Leeds. ‘This video continues to be viewed across global social media platforms where some people continue to make derogatory and racist comments.’
She said the video triggered racially charged comments online.
‘The world now knows my daughter as the screaming African-American baby, and it’s become a racial issue online. It has gone to places that I couldn’t have even imagined,’ Bryson stated.
Little Surai, 2, was terrified when the Easter Bunny paid a surprise visit to her classroom
The Easter Bunny, seen here in the doorway, startled all the children, the video shows a lot of crying
Her mom added: ‘I’m just hurt because you can see the distress in her face, and it’s bringing millions of people so much joy and laughter.’
Surai’s mother said she had filled out a form expressly forbidding the day care from videotaping the little girl, and when she confronted the owner.
‘She stated she was sorry. I told her I signed a paper that I didn’t want my child photographed or videos taken of them. She was aware of that. She had it on file,’ Bryson said.
An employee posted the video on Snapchat, with the caption ‘I am crying’.
Leeds said he intends to find out which employee recorded the video.
‘This should never happen again. I know it won’t, but if there’s something that could be done in regards to cellphone policies at schools and focusing on education for children, which is the main goal for sending children to day care – getting a head start – it’s definitely what I’m looking to be the outcome of this,’ Bryson said.
The Snapchat video, which went viral, shows Surai moving behind her chair in an effort to get away from the Easter Bunny.
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Mary Bryson-Robinson, Surai’s grandmother, said that when she picked the little girl up that day, the school told her that Surai had been afraid of the Easter Bunny.
She says the school downplayed the whole incident.
‘My granddaughter looked petrified. Her face changed. It was not the same child that I dropped off that day or the child that I know,’ her grandmother Mary Bryson-Robinson told WKMG-TV.
‘For a bunny of that size to appear, I’m sure it scared the daylights out of her.’
The day care said it is investigating the incident, and has made no comment on the video.
The owner of the Around the World Learning Center, seen here, says she is investigating the inciden
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