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Suit Alleges Hazing at Exclusive Conn. Prep School
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- The bullying came in classes, at school dances and a dorm room by girls who called themselves ``Oprichniki,'' the name of a Russian attack squad notorious for torturing suspected enemies of a 16th-century czar.
Alice Stockton-Rossini reports.
After months of harassment, Tatum Bass says a cruel clique at the elite all-girls Miss Porter's School wore her down so much that her parents traveled from South Carolina to comfort her, and two doctors advised her to leave the exclusive boarding school for a while.
Then, according to a scenario described in court papers, her teen tormentors delivered a parting blow: Returning to her dorm room one afternoon to pack a few possessions, the senior found her belongings crammed into a corner and a ``For Rent'' sign placed on her bed.
Two weeks later, Bass and her parents fought back: They sued the Farmington school, alma mater of such luminaries as Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis and Gloria Vanderbilt, and its headmaster in federal court.
Their lawsuit alleges Miss Porter's School failed to protect her from the bullying and notified Bass in November that she would be expelled.
Katherine Windsor, the school's head and a defendant in the lawsuit, said in a written statement Wednesday that it would be ``inappropriate for us to discuss this matter publicly.''
``The claims in the lawsuit as portrayed in the media will be defended vigorously, and we believe that a comprehensive hearing of the facts will result in the exoneration of our school,'' she said.
Messages were left Wednesday for Bass's attorney and family. The lawsuit was first reported Wednesday by The Hartford Courant.
None of Bass's fellow students are named in the lawsuit, which says the harassment stemmed from her proposal as the student body's activities coordinator to hold a multi-school prom with nearby schools.
Miss Porter's, founded in 1843, is among the nation's most selective and exclusive all-girls boarding schools. Its alumnae have gone on to become noted diplomats, performers, socialites, public servants and writers.
The annual tuition is nearly $43,000 for boarding students and about $33,000 for ``day students,'' who live within driving distance of the Farmington campus, about 10 miles west of Hartford.
The school, housed in a series of historic buildings set amid a New England village in a wealthy region of Connecticut, is among an elite group of posh private institutions considered feeder schools for the Ivy League.
Like Bass, two-thirds of the approximately 330 students at Miss Porter's this year are boarders who come from 22 states and 20 countries.
Bass, who enrolled as a freshman three years ago from her hometown in Beaufort, S.C., was also on a successful path before the harassment started this fall, her lawsuit says.
The honor student played school sports, was active in extracurricular groups and even was elected by her peers to the ``Nova Nine,'' the nine top student government spots.
But everything changed when she proposed the controversial prom, Bass alleges.
She says the girls turned on her, calling her ``stupid'' and targeting her with profanities, insults and intimidation.
She says she was bullied in front of hundreds of people at a school dance, in classes, around campus and online on the Facebook social networking site.
The bullying also included harassing text messages and widespread claims and taunts that she was ``ret*d'' because she has attention-deficit disorder, the lawsuit says.
``This was the first time that negative attention was drawn to her disability at (the school),'' the lawsuit says.
``Oprichniki members were at the forefront of taunting Tatum in class and advising others about her disability.''
Bass says that in the depths of the harassment, she uncharacteristically cheated on an art history test, then was so wracked with guilt that she approached the headmaster to confess, only to encounter stepped-up bullying when she returned from her three-day suspension.
``(Her) emotional stress and anxiety became overwhelming ... Tatum sought medical treatment for stress and anxiety and ultimately was recommended for medical leave by two physicians,'' the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit says Miss Porter's and Windsor inflicted long-term damage to Bass's academic career by notifying at least one college about the suspension without giving her a chance to give her side.
The expulsion threat occurred soon afterward, when she tried to complete her studies off campus at the doctors' advice.
That's when she discovered the school had blocked her from communicating with teachers or handing in class assignments by freezing her Intranet and e-mail access, the lawsuit says.
The school deemed her absences ``unexcused,'' citing the time away from campus and ``violations of school rules'' as reasons for the pending expulsion.
Her status with the school was unclear Wednesday, but her lawsuit says she needs to finish only one class to have enough credits to receive her diploma.
Bass is asking a judge for an injunction barring Miss Porter's from sharing her academic status with colleges to which she has applied.
She and her parents also are asking the court for unspecified financial damages against the defendants, and reinstatement to the school in good standing so she can graduate.
TM & Copyright 2008 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO & EYE Logo TM & Copyright 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. TheAssociated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.1010wins.com/pages/3476434.php?contentType=4&contentId=3196184
15 Dec 2008, 12:19 pm
