Boys’ school seeks gag order, defends against lawsuit
Brunswick School in Greenwich is seeking a gag order on a lawsuit filed against the school by the family of a young woman who claims she was sexually assaulted by a Brunswick student at an out-ofschool pool party.
In court papers filed late last week, the school also disputes many of the claims made in the lawsuit, laying out a more robust defense of the Brunswick administration’s handling of the matter than a statement sent out by the school in August.
The lawsuit, filed in state Superior Court, claims the Brunswick administration was negligent and inflicted emotional distress on the then-16-year-old girl in the aftermath of the pool party in 2016. A federal lawsuit is also pending, contending that the Greenwich Police Department acted improperly in investigating the case, which did not result in an arrest.
Brunswick is seeking to remove the anonymity of the family suing the school, if they communicate further with the media. The school’s filing takes exception with news articles about the suit in this newspaper, and elsewhere, claiming they were “prejudicial.”
According to the filing, submitted by attorney James Sconzo: “Connecticut courts have been clear: Plaintiffs who engage in publicity campaigns and cooperate with the news media are not entitled to anonymity.”
Continuing, the Brunswick attorney wrote, the young woman and her family “have been using their anonymity as a sword when attacking Brunswick in the press and a shield in this court asking for protection from purported emotional harm.” He said the family was making “false accusations while hiding behind their cloak of anonymity.”
Meredith Braxton, the Greenwich lawyer representing the family suing Brunswick, declined comment, citing the recent court filing requesting a gag order on the case.
Court documents to date have shielded the identities of the alleged perpetrator as well as the alleged victim.
Brunswick, and the town of Greenwich, are being sued in the wake of an end-of-school party held by the family of the 16-year-old girl on June 3, 2016. The lawsuit says a then-16-yearold Brunswick student forced himself on her, pulled her clothing down and groped her genital area as she struggled to get away from him in a pool house at the party. The girl was attending Greenwich Academy, which has an affiliation with Brunswick for shared classes and social events.
The lawsuit maintains that Brunswick should have expelled the student after the incident came to light, and that the young woman was exposed to her alleged attacker at combined social and school events, causing her additional emotional distress.
Brunswick’s court filing presents a different portrayal of events. The Greenwich Academy student voluntarily chose to take an English class at Brunswick, the filing states, and she also voluntarily went to a dance at Brunswick at which she saw the young man.
“She chose to attend a Brunswick dance on Saturday, October 22, 2016, where she allegedly saw (the Brunswick student) from afar, although the two never directly interacted,” the filing states.
The school did what it could to limit interactions between the two, Sconzo wrote, including prohibiting the boy from going to Greenwich Academy.
Another point of contention involves the consumption of alcohol at the party. The father of the girl stated in court records and in a recent interview that he aimed to screen party guests who appeared intoxicated from entering, and was taking steps to make sure the event was alcohol-free, with the assistance of his son.
According to the Brunswick court filing, as well as the application for an arrest warrant obtained by Green- wich Time through a Freedom of Information request, there was alcohol being consumed on the property. The application states that the girl told police “she did not supply any alcohol to any guests the night of the party, but that some guests did bring their own alcohol.” She told investigators she was not intoxicated on the night in question.
The lawsuit against Brunswick contends that the alleged attacker was put on “disciplinary warning,” which Braxton said previously was “meaningless.” The recent court filing from Brunswick, however, said it was a significant sanction — the young man could have faced expulsion for any other offense, even a minor one.
While Greenwich police submitted an arrest warrant application for the Brunswick student, aiming to charge him with fourthdegree sexual assault, a felony, the application was declined by state prosecutors. He later graduated from Brunswick.