Case Accusing Teachers Of Letting Students Drink Dismissed: Judge

EAST HAMPTON, NY — A Suffolk County Supreme Court judge dismissed a $10 million brought against the Ross School, its former head of school and four teachers following a school trip to South America in 2020 where educators were accused of allowing students to drink and bullying, according to a suit.

The suit was filed in Supreme Court by the New York City-based law firm Becker & Poliakoff LLP against the Ross School, Bill O'Hearn, head of school and head of the high school, as well as four teachers on behalf of student Hayden Soloviev and his father Stefan Soloviev and alleged that on a 2020 school trip to South America, teachers and chaperones Christopher Maddalone, Daniel Donovan, Peter Roberts, and Sinead Quinlan "requested that tour guides switch out the water being distributed to students for whiskey even though all of the students on the trip were minors."

The teachers discouraged the students from telling anyone, including their parents, the complaint states. Quinlan, the complaint said, led a toast where everyone shouted, "What happens on the glacier stays on the glacier."

Soloviev, an 11th grader at the time, did not drink the alcohol and on March 7, Maddalone and Donovan entered his room and demanded that he "turn over control of the school-approved Instagram project to Maddalone," the complaint said. When he did not "instantly comply," the suit said, "Maddalone began to bully, threaten, and verbally abuse Hayden by raising their voices and yelling at him." They also threatened to give him failing grades if he did not comply, which he did, the complaint said.

Hayden felt so uncomfortable that he returned home early and reported the conduct to the Ross School's administration, the complaint said. "Thereafter, the Ross School's administration never advised Hayden or his parents of the outcome of its investigation and refused to respond to any of their inquiries. As a result, Hayden felt so unsafe where he had already been victimized by one teacher and then made to feel ostracized by others, that he unenrolled from the Ross School in advance of his last year of high school," the complaint said.

The suit alleged several causes of action against the Ross School including negligence in hiring; breach of the Ross School's enrollment contract and the policies in the Ross School's handbook, unjust enrichment, breach of several duties including trust and duty to warn, the suit said.

On Dec. 7, State Supreme Court Justice William Condon ruled to dismiss the suit. The plaintiff was alleging to have "suffered debilitating psychological injury," he wrote. "There were no claims of physical abuse, contact or unwanted approaches of any kind but rather that a few frustrated words from a teacher who was chaperoning the trip. The teacher reassigned an Instagram account of the trip due to plaintiff not doing what he was asked for the project."

Also, Condon wrote in his decision, although the plaintiff said his "suffering knows no boundaries" and the incident "'prevented him from obtaining full enjoyment of life' due to watching others drink a thimbleful of celebratory local whiskey upon climbing a glacier. . .The plaintiff has not shown that any of these allegations hold any weight to create a cause of action in this matter."

He granted the motion to dismiss the case.

Dr. Charles Abelmann, interim head of the Ross School, sent a statement to Patch: "The school is happy with the choice as we prioritize health and safety on our trips whether near or far as well as in the operation of the school program daily."

Glenn Spiegel, an attorney with the law firm of Becker & Poliakoff who represents the Solovievs, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

When the suit was first filed, Spiegel said, with their lawsuit, the Soloviev family sought to address "the systemic failure by the Ross School to ensure the safety and well being of Hayden and other students in their care."