Family sues elite D.C. school over alleged racial and disability harassment
Elite DC school sued over allegations of race and disability harassment
A family is suing Saint Anselm’s Abbey School in D.C., alleging their 12-year-old son was harassed due to his race and autism, with school administrators failing to intervene despite multiple complaints.
WASHINGTON - A family is suing an elite private school in D.C., claiming their child was harassed because of his race and his disability - and that school administrators did nothing to protect him.
What we know:
The civil rights lawsuit was filed in D.C. Superior Court on Tuesday against Saint Anselm's Abbey School - a private Catholic all-boys school in Northeast D.C. with fewer than 300 students.
The child - who was in sixth grade at the time - is only referred to as John Doe to protect his identity.
The complaint claims the harassment occurred in 2022, when the 12-year-old started at St. Anselm's in the fall and eventually withdrew in the spring.
"The mother sent dozens and dozens of emails, naming names, naming times, naming places where the harassment was occurring," said Alisa Tiwari, an attorney at Cohen Milstein. "She sent screenshots of text messages with these images so there's good reason to believe the school did in fact know what is going on."
The lawsuit claims the child was harassed relentlessly by classmates because he is Black and has autism.
"Students told him that they could call him the N-word whenever they wanted," Tiwari said. The lawsuit also contains photos mocking his disability and race that were allegedly texted to the child by classmates.
The family said the student and his mother repeatedly complained to school staff and administrators, but claimed no one did anything to help - adding that the abuse got so bad, the child was too scared to ride the bus and even contemplated suicide.
The tipping point, according to the lawsuit, came when John Doe was allegedly attacked by a group of four students and was suspended for defending himself.
He was also barred from re-enrolling for the next school year, the lawsuit claims.
The family also claims the headmaster told them they would never have accepted the child if they knew he was autistic - though they claim they were upfront about his medical records throughout the entire interview and acceptance process.
"He is a fully functional kid where I think if he had gone anywhere else would have flourished academically and socially," Tiwari said.
The other side:
In a statement to Fox 5, St. Anselm’s Abbey School Headmaster, John Corrigan, said, "We are not in a position to respond because we have not been served with a complaint."