A Suffolk County Supreme Court judge last week dismissed a suit brought against the Ross School, its then-chief administrator, and four of its faculty members by a former student, who claimed he was bullied and alleged the teachers were negligent in their chaperoning duties during an overseas field trip in 2020.
Hayden Soloviev, who ultimately left Ross for East Hampton High School and graduated in June, and his father, Stefan Soloviev, claimed in court documents earlier this year that Hayden suffered "severe damages including but not limited to physical, mental, and emotional distress" as a result of the alleged bullying and negligence. The suit sought $10 million in compensatory and punitive damages.
But State Supreme Court Justice William J. Condon ruled on Dec. 7 that the Solovievs had not "shown that any of these allegations hold any weight to create a cause of action on this matter."
"There are no claims of physical abuse, contact, or unwanted approaches of any kind," just "a few frustrated words from a teacher who was chaperoning this trip," Justice Condon wrote in his dismissal.
Pointing out that Hayden Soloviev had signed a specific waiver when he enrolled at the Ross School, he said that ". . . all negligence claims against the school fall within the scope of the release concerning school activities off school property," including the three-week trip in question, in which students visited several South American countries.
In the suit, Hayden Soloviev said his peers were permitted to drink whiskey and that their chaperones told them not to say anything about it when they returned home. Justice Condon said it amounted to drinking "a thimbleful of celebratory local whiskey upon climbing a glacier."
The lawsuit also alleged that a teacher "forcibly obtained" access to a social media account used by Hayden Soloviev to document the trip. A failing grade was reportedly threatened if the student did not comply. However, Justice Condon found that "the teacher reassigned an Instagram account of the trip due to plaintiff not doing what he was asked for the project."
Bill O'Hearn, then Ross's head-of-school, who was named in the suit, said in March that the school believed the Solovievs' claims were "without merit." Mr. O'Hearn has since announced his retirement; Charles Abelmann, who is the interim head-of-school, said in a statement yesterday that Ross is happy with the judge's choice.
"We prioritize health and safety on our trips, whether near or far, and in the daily operation of the school program," he said.
The Soloviev family, which is one of the largest owners of farmland in the United States, including many acres on the East End, also could not immediately be reached for comment.