Pingry School Settles Lawsuit With 13 More Sex Abuse Victims

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — The Pingry School settled a lawsuit with 13 more sexual abuse victims on Monday following allegations that a teacher at the school in the 1970s molested students, attorneys said.

The second settlement offered the victims financial relief and "reaffirmed the school’s commitment to providing a safe environment," according to the lawyers representing the 13 survivors. The monetary amount of financial relief was not disclosed.

Along with the financial relief the school will "institute a series of new protection policies and procedures, developed with input from our school’s survivors, all designed to ensure that the atrocities of the past cannot be repeated," said Pingry Head of School Matt Levinson.

Additionally the school has hired alumna Lindsay Holmes-Glogower '99 as Director of People Operations and Talent Development to allow the school to strengthen their processes for compliance.

This new agreement follows a previous settlement with 21 survivors of sexual abuse in April 2018.

The suit was filed in 2018 and had alleged that Pingry was aware of sexual abuse committed by by Thad "Ted" P. Alton Jr. and hid it from the public and parents of students.

The survivors in the recent settlement were represented by Eric Kahn and Rubin Sinins of the law firm Javerbaum Wurgaft Hicks Kahn Wikstrom & Sinins, along with Steven Crew and Peter Janci of the law firm Crew Janci.

"The lawyers for the survivors are pleased that The Pingry School has listened to their clients, acknowledged the suffering that they endured dating back to the time of the abuse in the 1970s, and taken measures to address their pain," the lawyers stated.

An investigation was launched by the school in the spring of 2016 and concluded in March 2017, which found that more than two dozen students were sexually abused by Alton Jr., who worked as a teacher and assistant principal at both school locations in Basking Ridge and Short Hills.

During his time at the school Alton Jr. served as an assistant principal and guidance counselor and also taught sixth grade and social studies. He also served as a soccer coach at the school and scoutmaster for a boy scouts troop, which consisted of students from the school.

"Since engaging a firm to conduct an independent investigation into the sexual abuse allegations and circumstances surrounding the tenure of former faculty member Thad Alton and others, Pingry has worked with its survivors to bolster the School’s safe-environment practices, including establishing a Student Safety Advisory Committee. Moreover, as a result of the input from survivors, the School has undertaken an audit of its child protection policies, including a review of methods to report suspicions of abuse or inappropriate behavior, among other actions," according to a statement released by lawyers representing the 13 survivors.

Pingry's Chair of the Board of Trustees Jeffrey Edwards extended "his deepest regrets to the survivors for the abuse they experienced at the School and the suffering they have endured since."

• See Related: Lawsuit Filed Against Pingry School For Sex Abuse Of Student

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