|
|
|
|
Click to visit the
Official Town Site
|
|
|
|
|
|
General News: Allegations of Misconduct at SKS
The Storm King School, the 144-year-old private school that sits atop Mountain Road in Cornwall-on-Hudson, is facing two lawsuits that sprang from an alleged sexual assault of a female student by two male students at an off-campus party in 2009.
The father of the student, who was 16 at the time of the alleged assault, and the teen are suing the school in New York State Supreme Court, claiming the school failed to protect and supervise her.
At the same time, three former teachers at the Storm King School are claiming that school administrators discriminated and retaliated against them after they raised concerns about the school’s handling of the incident. They are seeking damages in a civil suit filed in federal court in May.
Teachers Desiree St. John and Shelly Kaye, along with Kaye’s husband and fellow teacher George C. Kaye, claim in their lawsuit that the head of school Helen Stevens Chinitz failed to take sufficient action to respond after a revealing photo of the student and details of the alleged encounter surfaced. The teachers claim that instead, the head of school retaliated against them for calling child protective services to investigate the incident. The lawsuit also claims that Chinitz discriminated against the female employees and created a hostile environment for them, allegations that if proven could violate federal equal employment laws. All three of the teachers say they were effectively terminated in June 2010. They are seeking damages of at least $25 million, along with re-instatement to their jobs and back pay.
Louis Gasparini, an attorney with the firm of Lynch Schwab, which represents Storm King School against the charges by the father, said that the school denies wrongdoing on its part. “In the end of the day, the school will be vindicated,” Gasparini said.
Attorneys from the firm of Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP have filed a motion to dismiss the teachers’ claims.
Peter Duggan, chair of the school’s board of trustees, said that the school is confident that the plaintiffs’ suit will ultimately be deemed without merit and dismissed in its entirety.
The Storm King Schoolis a local institution dating back to 1867, when Reverend Louis P. Ledoux, a pastor of the Cornwall Presbyterian Church, founded its predecessor, Cornwall Heights School. It currently has an enrollment of about 140 students in grades 8 through 12.
Comments:
|
Saying it was "an off-campus party" makes it sound as though it was a Storm King-sponsored, or abetted, party that happened to be held not at the school but elsewhere (I believe in Brooklyn, in this case).
It in fact was a party that had absolutely nothing to do with Storm King. If the person who allegedly assaulted her happened to be a University of Michigan student, say, is Michigan responsible for his conduct? Hardly. Is Storm King responsible for "protecting and supervising" this student if she travels to Spain on vacation and gets caught smoking dope? That's a stretch...
posted by Stephan Wilkinson on 08/01/11 at 11:35 AM
|
|
Agreed. I don't understand how a small institution such as SKS can possibly be expected to look out for the welfare of its students when they leave the campus of their own free will for something like a private party.
As an alum, I can tell you that some students left campus with great regularity to (ahem) blow off steam and none of them would have ever expected the school to be looking out for them. If you were off campus against policy, not having the school looking out for you was the whole point!
I was a day student at SKS, but on a couple of occasions went in to NYC for parties. The idea that SKS would have been responsible for our actions in such situations is ludicrous.
posted by Ted Warren on 08/02/11 at 9:59 AM
|
|
It is difficult to give the full story about any lawsuit. This suit alleges that the school refused to adequately address the sexual assault of the child, get the child victim help, never advised her parent of the situation, refused to hold the students who committed the crimes accountable, then retaliated against teachers who tried to help the child and comply with the NY?s Mandatory Reporter law. The school is the only party responsible for "protecting and supervising" their students, as these kids all live at that school. The boys allegedly taunted the child after the assault and passed around a picture of her being victimized to her classmates and the school?s faculty. We gave the school every opportunity to take responsibility and make things right, but they still claim they did nothing wrong. We were reluctantly forced into court, and hope the entire Storm King community will one day benefit from this lawsuit.
Jeanne M. Valentine
The Valentine Law Office PLLC
Attorney for Plaintiffs Shelly Kaye, Desiree St. John and George C. Kaye
posted by Jeanne Valentine on 08/02/11 at 4:35 PM
|
|
"...and hope the entire Storm King community will one day benefit from this lawsuit."
Yes, suing this small school for $25 million will definitely help them, particularly if they lose. They'll certainly thank you later.
posted by Stephan Wilkinson on 08/02/11 at 5:36 PM
|
|
If these allegations against the school are true (and I'm not saying they are) then it's certainly possible that the school bears some responsibility, but $25 million? For what sounds more like a criminal case? How is putting SKS out of business going to make anything better for the child in question? If a serious and clear sexual assault occurred, and the victim was later humiliated by the alleged perps with evidence of that assault, why isn't this in a criminal court right now?
Oh right, I forgot, the perps would just potentially go to prison/juvie, but there might not be any ridiculously huge financial settlements to get 50% of.
Plus, while I understand that any private boarding school is going to be responsible for "protecting and supervising" their students, this alleged assault happened off campus, so we're only talking about the school potentially being liable for failing to follow-up and take appropriate action after the incident. We're not talking about the school being liable for the incident occurring in the first place.
So, again, I ask, $25 million? Seriously?
posted by Ted Warren on 08/04/11 at 12:46 PM
|
|
I attended this school, and considering that the school held students accountable for any activities that occurred off campus(many students were expelled for activities that took place off campus), yes, they should be held accountable...it works both ways
posted by Nicholas Austin on 04/28/13 at 4:43 PM
|
|
the school has expelled plenty of students for "Smoking dope" off campus, so why should they not be held responsible for something such as this? after all the reason for the expulsion of these students was that "their actions reflect the school itself"
posted by Nicholas Austin on 04/28/13 at 4:49 PM
|
Add a Comment:
Please signup or login to add a comment.
|
 |
|
|
|
