Sauder Schelkopf is investigating allegations of sexual and physical misconduct between students at Mission Hill K-8 School of the Boston Public Schools prompting the superintendent to call for the school’s closure.
Local 12 reported in part on April 28, 2022:
A culture of sexual abuse was allegedly overlooked and allowed to continue for nearly a decade. Boston attorneys spoke to more than 60 witnesses and found multiple incidents of student-on-student sexual misconduct at the Mission Hill School.
The reports span from kindergarten to sixth grade. Despite intervention from the district and more training, nothing changed.
The Report (April 25, 2022) concluded in part:
We have examined the culture and leadership of the Mission Hill School and made findings that former school leader MH Admin 3 cultivated and tolerated a culture of pervasive indifference to sexual misconduct, bullying and bias-based conduct and toward rules, regulations and policies, and created a climate of hostility and intimidation toward parents and staff who questioned or disagreed with that culture, and that all of the above undermined the safety and educational aspirations of Mission Hill students.
We have found that the Mission Hill School purported, but failed, to protect consistently and reliably the well-being of all its students in the face of substantial risks to their physical and emotional health and safety. We have further found that the Mission Hill School failed to deliver an academically-rigorous education to all students and to provide special education services, as needed, in an equitable fashion, leaving certain cohorts of students underserved and undereducated.
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Experience Matters
Sauder Schelkopf has a nationally recognized sexual misconduct practice. The firm currently serves as court-appointed lead counsel in courts across the country. The attorneys at Sauder Schelkopf have recovered over $500 million on behalf of their clients and class members. Our attorneys have been recognized by LawDragon in its list of the “500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers” for 2022. This list notes: “From the opioid epidemic to toxic substances and defective products, truck accidents to wildfires and sexual abuse, these are the lawyers who stand on the front line in individual lawsuits and class actions seeking justice.” Mr. Schelkopf was named to Pennsylvania’s Best Lawyers® 2022 for Class Actions/Mass Tort Litigation. The American Lawyer named Mr. Sauder to its 2021 Northeast Trailblazers. The honor recognizes 60 lawyers who are “truly agents of change.” It “recognizes professionals in the Northeast who have moved the needle in the legal industry.” The Legal Intelligencer named Mr. Sauder and Mr. Schelkopf in its 2020 Pennsylvania Trailblazers list recognizing 31 lawyers who “have taken extra measures to contribute to positive outcomes . . . and who are truly agents of change.” The Legal highlighted Mr. Sauder’s innovative work on advocacy as class counsel in large institutional sex abuse cover-ups, women’s, and children’s rights. Our attorneys have also consistently been recognized by our peers being named to Pennsylvania SuperLawyer, a distinction held by the top 5% of attorneys in Pennsylvania. Our attorneys have also been selected by the National Trial Lawyers Association as the Top 100 Trial Lawyers in Pennsylvania
Juvenile Justice:
- We currently represent numerous individuals whose rights were violated while they were detained in a juvenile detention facility. Sauder Schelkopf and co-counsel filed a lawsuit on behalf of former students of The Glen Mills Schools who allege that they were physically and mentally abused while attending the School.
Civil Rights
- In Allison, et al. v. The GEO Group, Mr. Sauder served as co-lead counsel and achieved a $2.9 million settlement on behalf of pretrial detainees whose civil rights were violated at the Delaware County prison.
- In Kurian v. County of Lancaster, Mr. Sauder served as co-lead counsel and achieved a $2.5 million settlement in this civil rights class action lawsuit on behalf of pretrial detainees.
Sexual Abuse
- Sauder Schelkopf, and co-counsel, recently reached a $215 million settlement on behalf of female patients of Dr. George Tyndall, a gynecologist at the University of Southern California accused of sexual misconduct since the 1990s.
- We have represented survivors of clergy sexual abuse in dioceses throughout the country.
- We have a lawsuit pending on behalf of males who were victims of sexual misconduct by Dr. Richard Strauss, the Ohio State team doctor, while they were students and student-athletes at Ohio State University.
- We recently announced a landmark class action settlement in which the University of Michigan agreed to “major institutional reforms.” It was alleged that UofM longtime employment of a predatory former sports doctor evidenced a toxic environment where students face an increased risk of sexual violence in violation of Title IX. The settlement comes after widespread allegations by over 1000 survivors of sexual misconduct by Dr. Robert E. Anderson, former director of University Health Service, and a former athletic team physician, who worked at the University of Michigan from 1968 until his retirement in 2003.
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If you are a survivor of physical, emotional and/or sexual abuse, you can confidentially contact the lawyers at Sauder Schelkopf by filling out the form on this page or calling 888.711.9975