Attorneys for a Black former Harvard-Westlake School student state in new court papers that the school is prioritizing is reputation over student safety with a motion to dismiss some claims in a lawsuit filed by the plaintiff, who alleges he was subjected to repeated incidents of sexual assault and racial attacks.
Aidan Romain’s Alhambra Superior Court lawsuit targets the Studio City school, its president, Romain’s former coach and ex-teammate Lucca Van Der Woude. The abuse was not spontaneous, according to the suit, but was instead part of a longtime culture in which violence and humiliation were enabled by the school’s coaching staff and administration.
Attorneys for the school, water polo coach Jack Grover and school President Richard B. Commons contend that Romain’s claims for negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress and civil rights violations are not supported by the evidence. But in rebuttal court papers filed Tuesday with Judge Lauren A. R. Lofton in advance of an Oct. 26 hearing, Romain’s attorneys say defense lawyers make “remarkable propositions” by suggesting that none of the defendants are liable.
In reality, the defendants “consciously chose” to prioritize the school’s reputation, athletic prestige and protection of Van Der Woude over Aidan’s safety and … they acted with reckless disregard of the probability that their conduct would cause Aidan profound psychological harm,” Romain’s lawyers state in their pleadings.
For about 1 1/2 years, starting when Romain was 14 years old, he was subjected to repeated sexual assaults, racial harassment and physical violence in connection with his participation in Harvard-Westlake’s varsity water polo program, the plaintiff’s attorneys write in their pleadings.
The school’s coaches and administrators received reports, knew Romain remained in danger and yet did not protect him, the Romain attorneys further state in their court papers. When Romain and his family sought help, Harvard-Westlake suspended the plaintiff and demoted him and the school administration did not correct the alleged retaliation even after Van Der Woude was arrested, Romain’s lawyers further state in their court papers.
Harvard-Westlake’s administration questioned Romain’s account of events, concealed what had occurred and helped his assailant transfer to another school with a clean disciplinary record, Romain’s attorneys further allege in their court papers.
“Calling him a liar, concealing the abuse, denying that it occurred, and helping his assailant leave with a clean record are affirmative acts, taken with knowledge of Aidan’s vulnerability,” Romain’s attorneys further state in their court papers.
Romain alleges that from August 2022 until February 2024, while a minor, he was sexually assaulted, harassed and humiliated primarily by three Harvard-Westlake water polo teammates — often in the presence of Harvard-Westlake agents and employees. He further alleges that Van Der Woude sexually assaulted him over and over again inside the weight room and under the pool water surface.
But school attorneys state in their court papers that Romain’s lawsuit, filed Feb. 27, does not demonstrate any negligence by Commons and say the only allegations concerning the president are that he was previously a headmaster at another school where sexual abuse allegedly took place between students.
There is not any “extreme and outrageous conduct” by Grover toward Romain that would justify the intentional infliction of emotional distress claim and the civil rights violation allegation against Grover and the school does not allege any threats, intimidation or coercion toward Romain by either, according to the defendants’ attorneys’ pleadings.
Romain does not allege that Harvard-Westlake employees heard any alleged racial abuse and although he contends that he told his coach about one alleged racist epithet, his only complaint is that he was dissatisfied with the lack of discipline of the other student, according to the defendants’ attorneys’ court papers.
Romain and Van Der Woude are both now adults and neither currently attends Harvard-Westlake.