Chapter 7
State investigators interviewed employees across all five Little Harbor locations.
Most did not describe Wendy as physically abusive.
That distinction mattered.
Some employees loved her.
Some said she was demanding but excellent with children.
Some had never seen her touch a child inappropriately.
But enough described direct intervention after her supposed retirement that the regulatory issue became serious.
Wendy corrected children.
Moved staff.
Entered classrooms.
Overrode directors.
Called parents.
Reviewed discipline.
Occasionally physically redirected children.
The centers’ official organizational chart said she did none of those things.
Then investigators found a prior internal memo from Luca.
Wendy Mercer Founder Access Protocol
It instructed directors:
Treat Wendy as executive leadership.
Provide full building access.
Escalate disputes with staff to Luca.
Do not challenge Wendy in front of parents.
The memo was dated five months after Luca certified she held no operational authority.
Luca’s attorney argued:
Executive courtesy was not legal supervision.
Fair argument.
Then a director produced text messages.
Wendy:
Remove Owen from block area. He hit again.
Director:
I’m handling it.
Wendy:
No. Quiet chair. Ten minutes.
Director:
Licensing says we can’t use timed isolation like that.
Wendy:
Licensing isn’t in the room.
The director did not follow the instruction.
She saved the message.
Why?
“Because I knew someday someone would say she never gave orders.”
Another director had similar messages.
Luca knew about at least some.
One chain ended with the director asking:
Can you please tell your mom she cannot discipline kids?
Luca:
I’ll handle her.
Director:
You said that last month.
No further response.
Then investigators found something odd.
Wendy’s name had been removed from the public website eighteen months earlier.
Not merely from leadership.
From the history page.
The company announcement said:
Founder Wendy Mercer retires from active childcare operations.
At the same time, her consulting salary increased.
Jessi asked:
“Why pay more after retirement?”
The answer appeared in the books.
Wendy used to receive salary plus owner distributions.
After stepping down formally, the company restructured payments into consulting fees and distributions.
Legitimate in itself if properly documented.
But it showed the retirement was mostly administrative.
Then Brooke Jensen told investigators something important.
“When the state agreement happened, Wendy wanted to fight it.”
“Who convinced her not to?”
“Luca.”
“What did he say?”
“That if she formally stepped away, the centers stay open and nothing really has to change.”
Jessi felt her stomach drop.
“Did you hear that directly?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“The night before they signed.”
“What exactly did he say?”
Brooke remembered:
May you like
“Mom, sign it. I’ll be operator on paper. You’re still you.”
That was clue number four.
