Girl alleges bullying occurred for years, sues Smithtown school district
By Sabrina Artusa
After years of alleged bullying, a Smithtown student is suing the school district, claiming inadequate handling of the abuse. An accused party is presumed innocent until proven otherwise.
According to the $6 million lawsuit, the 16-year-old was allegedly subjected to degradation, mockery and even physical assault, which was recorded and shared.
The lawsuit accuses the Smithtown Central School District, Smithtown High School West, Superintendent of Schools Mark Secaur and the district Board of Education of enabling the bullying by failing to punish the bullying students and allowing them to remain in school, consequently creating an unsafe environment.
The bullying allegedly began in 2018, when the unnamed plaintiff, “A.S.,” as the lawsuit refers to her, was in sixth grade. The Accompsett Middle School principal, Paul McNeil, was alerted.
A.S. made the varsity cheerleading squad upon entering high school in 2021, along with one of her alleged bullies, referred to as “A.M.” in the lawsuit.
At a party in the summer of 2022, A.S. was allegedly screamed at by a fellow cheerleader, pulled to the ground by another girl and beaten, all while another teenager filmed the event, the suit claims. The video was allegedly shown to several school officials, including Secaur.
The lawsuit states that after a period of homeschooling, which was allegedly deemed below par by the school district, A.S. had to return to school, where bullying allegedly persisted. While A.S. quit the cheerleading team, the suit claims the bully was allowed to remain.
“The group of girls continued to target anyone who talked to [A.S],” the lawsuit alleges. They would tell her friends “not to be friends with her, right in front of her.”
The parents of A.S. communicated with school officials and were promised several times that a plan would be put into place and that she would be monitored by security, the suit reads. Additionally, a school counselor allegedly promised to support the girl but never did so, according to the lawsuit.
Smithtown High School West employees allowed a friend to escort her to her classes but, when pressed by parents for a solution, allegedly said there is not enough staff.
“Parents sent several emails, phone calls, texts to school administration, and all went unanswered for weeks,” the lawsuit suggests.
In another incident, A.S. was targeted in the bathroom, where she was found by an employee crying in a stall. She named her bully but was not believed by school officials, who told the parents that the girl A.S. named was not involved.
The bullying students weren’t removed from the school, according to the lawsuit, which argues that the school was negligent in allowing the bullying students to remain in school “despite knowing about these students’ vicious and aggressive propensities.”
Parents bought A.S. an emotional support animal, a horse, which was then put down by veterinarians for reasons undisclosed. This event was allegedly weaponized by the bullies, who started calling her “horse girl.”
The family’s attorney, Kenneth Mollins, told the New York Post that the accuser “threatened to kill herself if they forced her to go back to school.”
The accuser’s family filled out forms under the Dignity for All Students Act — once in 2019 and again against the three assaulters in May 2023 — all deemed “unfounded.” The Dignity for All Students Act is designed to ensure “a safe and supportive student environment free from discrimination, intimidation, taunting, harassment and bullying on school property.”
When questioned, the school district stated that it does not comment on matters pertaining to litigation.
