Author Topic: Hyde settled in Hiler v Hyde School regarding Larry Dubinsky's sexual misconduct  (Read 4481 times)

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Offline survivorami

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HILER V HYDE SCHOOL, WOODSTOCK, details:

Fornits user Ursus wrote the following on another board regarding Hyde School's Larry Dubinsky, former dean of students, and his alleged sexual misconduct and a following lawsuit, (Hyde settled and paid the family) in what turned out to be the case called Hiler v Hyde.

Quote
Larry Dubinsky was a student during the mid/late 1970s, apparently a seemingly successful one, as he was a member of the Senior Leadership during his final year.  He married another Hyde student, Donna Leonard, who was a few years younger.  The Dubinskys came back to teach at Hyde, specifically the Woodstock campus.  This was sometime in the mid or late 1990s; I'm not sure as to the specific year.

Larry liked to express his love for the girls in rather... physical ways... There were complaints.  Hyde did nothing.  Eventually, a parent sued Hyde for the sexual assault of their daughter. This latest development was relatively recent, I'm thinking maybe 5 years ago.  Here are links to some pages from the lawsuit, filed on the ISACCorp website: (no longer available after WWASP kingpin Robert Lichfield sued the makers of the website)

Despite everything that transpired, despite the lawsuit even, Hyde continued to keep Dubinsky on campus.  I believe that he lost his teaching benefits, but the rationalization for keeping him there was alleged to reside in the fact that his wife still taught there, and that they had kids which were still attending at the time.

Not sure how the needs or safety of the other female students attending at the time were factored into that, but I think it does say something about where Hyde places their priorities and exactly what kind of values they actually do hold dearest.

Transcription of the ISACCorp document (original on 4 separate pages) on the Dubinsky case.  Please see my previous post for the links to jpg scans of the actual documents. (photos no longer available; ISAC has been removed from the internet and photo scans of case no longer linked, but original post is here)

And if Larry Dubinsky's shenanigans -- in and of themselves -- weren't bad enough, the icing on the cake was how Hyde chose to deal with them.  At no time were any authorities contacted.  In fact, Hyde held at least two meetings with the girl -- in which she was forced to confront Larry Dubinsky in person, in the presence of multiple, mostly male faculty who were probably not very happy about the situation -- before even deigning to call the girl's parents.  Probably the only reason it got to the point of calling the girl's parents is because the girl refused to back down.  And, from what I've been told, the only reason it got to the point where the girl was even taken seriously in the first place, was due to the efforts of one sole faculty member (not surprisingly, no longer associated with Hyde School).

Mind you, Larry Dubinsky had been on this behavior path for some time, and none of the girls' complaints had been taken seriously up to that point.

Here are the official links to the summaries of Hiler v Hyde:
1. https://ia800202.us.archive.org/2/items/gov.uscourts.ctd.18684/gov.uscourts.ctd.18684.docket.html
and
2. https://www.plainsite.org/dockets/1e0g0oy6/connecticut-district-court/hiler-v-hyde-school/

Here is what Ursus transcribed from photos of the case into text:
From Ursus: https://www.fornits.com/phpbb/index.php/topic,22002.msg297625.html#msg297625

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT

L. HILER VS. HYDE SCHOOL AT WOODSTOCK

Hiler v. Hyde School
Federal Civil Lawsuit - Connecticut District Court, Case No. 3:02-cv-00416-DJS
District Judge Dominic J. Squatrito, presiding
MARCH 5, 2002

COMPLAINT

1.  This is an action by a female student against a private school which, upon information and belief, is the recipient of federal funds, for tolerating and encouraging a pattern of sexual misconduct directed against her and other female students by a male faulty member, over a long period of time.

2.  Jurisdiction of this court is invoked under the provisions of Sections 1331, 1343(3) and 1367(a) of Title 28 of the United States Code and this court's supplementary and diversity jurisdiction over the plaintiff's causes of action under state law.

3.  The plaintiff is an adult female citizen of the State of XXXXX.  She was born on XXX and at all times mentioned herein was an out-of-state student at the defendant's school in Woodstock, Connecticut.

4.  The defendant is a private school located in Woodstock, Connecticut.  Upon information and belief, the defendant receives federal financial assistance for the operation of its educational and related programs.

5.  The amount at issue in this case is greater than seventy-five thousand dollars, exclusive of interest and costs.

6.  In 2001, and for several years prior thereto, the defendant employed at its school in Woodstock an adult male teacher by the name of Larry Dubinsky.  At all times mentioned herein, said Dubinsky was acting as the agent, servant, and employee of the defendant, within the scope of his employment and agency, and for the defendant's financial benefit.

7.  For several years prior to and including the events described hereinafter, the defendant, through its administrators and officials, had actual knowledge that Dubinsky  was subjecting the female students at Hyde School to sexual harassment which included inappropriate touching, staring, and comments.  Despite such actual knowledge, the defendant retained Dubinsky on its faculty and permitted him to continue to have daily, direct and unsupervised contact with the adolescent female students at the school, including the plaintiff.

8.  During the second week of July, 2001, at the school, Dubinsky initiated a "role-playing" incident with the plaintiff in the course of which he insisted upon having full body contact with the plaintiff, repeatedly and over her objection, while making lewd and inappropriate comments to her which included the phrase "fucking pussy".

9.  On August 1, 2001, while instructing a dance routine in which the plaintiff was involved, Dubinsky required the plaintiff to be his partner and to dance with him.  He required her to bend down in front of him, then lifted her, raised her blouse, felt around her body for her hips and placed his hands on her hips.  When the plaintiff objected and moved away from him, he attempted to coerce her into continuing.

10.  When the plaintiff complained to the defendants administrators about the aforesaid misconduct, she was summoned to a meeting at which she was required to meet with Dubinsky and was criticized by administrators for not wanting to look at Dubinsky during the meeting.  The following day, she was summoned to yet another meeting with administrators, which the administrators concealed from her parents.  When school officials were informed in September of 2001 that the plaintiff was suffering from recurring nightmares regarding Dubinsky, a faculty member falsely accused the plaintiff of flirting with another male teacher.  Her mother's pleas to the defendant's highest administrators that Dubinsky be kept away from the plaintiff and not allowed on school grounds were rejected.  In February of 2002, the plaintiff was required to serve as a waitress at a party given by the defendant's headmaster at which other under-age students were required to serve alcoholic beverages.  Dubinsky was an invited guest at that party.

11.  In the manner described above, the defendant has, on the basis of the plaintiff's sex, excluded her from participation in, denied her the benefits of, and/or subjected her to discrimination under an education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance in violation of Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972, Sections 1681 - 1688 of Title 20 of the United States Code.

12.  In the manner described above, the defendant through its aforesaid agent subjected the plaintiff to assault and battery on each of the two separate occasions described above, in violation of Connecticut state law.

13.  The conduct of the defendant and its agent described above was extreme and outrageous and was carried out with the knowledge that it probably would cause the plaintiff to suffer emotional distress.

14.  In the manner described above, the defendant further acted in negligent disregard  of the probability that its conduct would cause the plaintiff, like any person of ordinary sensibilities similarly situated, to suffer emotional distress so severe that physical illness could result.

15.  As a direct and proximate result of the acts and omissions of the defendant described above, the plaintiff has suffered severe emotional distress.

WHEREFORE, the plaintiff claims judgment against the defendant for compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorney fees and costs.

CLAIM FOR JURY TRIAL
The plaintiff claims trial by jury.

THE PLAINTIFF

BY:______________
JOHN R. WILLIAMS
Federal Bar No. ct00215
Williams and Pattis, LLC
51 Elm Street
New Haven, CT 06510
TELEPHONE:  203.562.9931
FAX: 203.776.9494
E-MAIL:  [email protected]
Her Attorney

Office   New Haven
Filed   3/7/2002
Jury Demand   Plaintiff
Demand   $0
Nature of Suit   440 - Civil Rights: Other
Cause   Section 28 U.S.C. § 1331 Federal Question
Jurisdiction   Federal Question
Disposition   Dismissed - Settled
County   XX US, Outside State
Terminated   5/6/2003
PACER case #18684

From: https://www.fornits.com/phpbb/index.php/topic,29995.msg357751.html#msg357751
Quote
In 1976, Larry Dubinsky was still a student at Hyde. He's one of a large number of folk that, for reasons certainly worth speculating about, never quite left.

In the early 2000's, Hyde School was sued by a student's parent(s) re. Dubinsky's alleged and continued sexual molestation of their daughter. Despite being presented with repeated complaints, Hyde did very little, essentially nothing, to address the issue.

Larry Dubinsky's wife, Donna Dubinsky (also a former Hyde student), still teaches at Hyde. Moreover, his kids go there. In fact, one of them is even featured in at least one of Hyde's recent promotional videos.

From: https://www.fornits.com/phpbb/index.php/topic,26980.msg326160.html#msg326160

Anon: wait they're missing earl bigelow, joe kilch and peter gregory, those guys molested kids at Hyde school. they worked there. what about those kids. what happened to their lives? Hyde stole them and then covered up the truth. Hyde employs some of the lowest forms of life.

Ursus: ...Not to mention Robert Thurrell, Margaret 'Peg' Brazier, Larry Dubinsky, and quite a few others who are not yet known by their names. If you want to count recently returning alums, which in my book violates something akin to a therapist-client relationship, then you can add Hyde School founder Joe Gauld and co-founder Sumner Hawley to that list as well.


Also there is Ms. Hallet. And a bunch of others.



« Last Edit: July 10, 2022, 06:44:53 PM by survivorami »

Offline survivorami

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From the following post, from the author who says they are the parent of Larry Dubinsky's victim (Hiler).. https://www.fornits.com/phpbb/index.php/topic,22969.msg279705.html

Yes, I have a question.  What would you call a Character Based School who has every opportunity to avoid a lawsuit by simply keeping the pedophile away from the victims yet refuses to do so?  I call this plain STUPIDITY, don't you?

I am the parent of a girl who was sexually fondled by a staff member with the initials LD.  Although Hyde would like you to believe that some lunatic parent made up a story about their daughter being molested by LD, this is not so! It's called "DENIAL" Hyde, when one wants to pretend something didn't happen in order to live with ones self.

 LD did sexually fondle my daughter. The only reason we did not file criminal charges was because the attorney explained that our daughter would be put through more than she could handle going through a criminal trial. It was explained that she would be re traumatized. LD should consider himself lucky.

I asked over a six month period that LD not be allowed on campus.  Hyde would not agree to this no matter how hard I pleaded.  Their stance was that because LD was a parent at Hyde, (he was asked to resign from staff after we pursued this) he had every right to be on campus for his daughters activities, parent weekends, seminars, and the like.  As far as I was concerned, this not only gave him an opportunity to sexually harass other female students, it re traumatized my daughter by seeing him, as well as sent a very poor message to the other students about what kind of behavior would be tolerated on campus. After our many pleadings fell on deaf ears, we filed a lawsuit under Title IX.

 When confronting Malcolm by phone and asking how he would like it if it had happened to his daughter, his response was, "my daughter could handle it."  Geez Louise, poor thing.  I hope she never has to go through something like our daughter. I am still waiting for Malcolm's apology and explanation for such a stupid remark. Also pretty sad that a head of a school would take this type of attitude. Hyde was however kind enough to offer that our daughter should move to the other campus. I guess this is how they offer assistance to a victim. Let the perpetrator stay where he is and enjoy his life in paid campus housing, and send the victim off to another place where she will feel even more isolated, not have any friends, etc.

  In my estimation the whole sick culture at Hyde is pathetic, but I guess wherever there are desperate parents, there will be places like Hyde.  Good luck to all of you.  If you have any questions I would be happy to answer them.  I also would be happy to speak to any incoming parents who might like to know more about Hyde.

.... there is NOTHING humorous about a young girl trusting an older man in a position of authority, who was supposed to protect her, only to then have him fondle her and rape her of her trust in authority.

There was much more to this story.....what they put our daughter through, how they interogated her without us being informed of the crime, how they NEVER offered counseling, etc. For a school that is supposed to be based on "Concern" and "Integrity" they certainly didn't show any!

This is the past and we have moved on, but seeing this other person talk about sexual abuse I felt compelled to inform you that there are many more cases of the same at Hyde. Any parent who reads this website and still decides to send their kid to Hyde, must be nuts!

...When LD enjoyed himself rubbing his body all over my daughter she  complained to Ken Grant who then called her into a meeting with LD, (without my knowledge) along with other adult staff.  She was made to confront him in front of all. MY GOD, this was a sexual assault and they want a young teenage girl to be in the same room as the perpetrator to "confront" him??  Sorry, but this goes beyond sick!! Every single one of those staff who participated in this and knew it was wrong needs to look at themselves and ask why they were such cowards.  I am referring to the non family members who were upset yet kept silent.

Someone asked if we won the case.  The case was going to trial in Ct Federal Court.  The jury was selected.  Hyde then settled right before.When LD enjoyed himself rubbing his body all over my daughter she  complained to Ken Grant who then called her into a meeting with LD, (without my knowledge) along with other adult staff.  She was made to confront him in front of all. MY GOD, this was a sexual assault and they want a young teenage girl to be in the same room as the perpetrator to "confront" him??  Sorry, but this goes beyond sick!! Every single one of those staff who participated in this and knew it was wrong needs to look at themselves and ask why they were such cowards.  I am referring to the non family members who were upset yet kept silent.

Someone asked if we won the case.  The case was going to trial in Ct Federal Court.  The jury was selected.  Hyde then settled right before.

....The difference between the Catholic Church and Hyde is that the Catholic Church has humbled themselves and are making sure this doesn't happen again. Hyde stood behind LD and when they finally made a statement it was, "LD will be taking a little time off to look at his life."

 There was no doubt that the "concern" was about LD, not the victim.

....There were males and females staff in this meeting. My daughter told me it was the most humiliating thing she was ever forced to do.  She was having trouble being in the same room as the creep teacher, (LD) who fondled her, so was looking the other way. Judy Fortier, a former Hyde Mom and staffer told her, "xxxxx, you need to look at LD when you talk to him." Ken Grant also told her that she needed to confront LD and let him know how uncomfortable he made her feel.

The fact that these misguided, ignoramus, mentally impaired  fools who run Hyde School would think it is normal or therapeutic to put a child (victim) through this says it all!!

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« Last Edit: June 02, 2021, 05:07:46 AM by survivorami »

Offline katfacehead89

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Ha. What’s ridiculous too is that Ken Grant, who made the victim “confront” Larry Dubinsky, is only in that position of authority because he married Claire Denton, who is Laura (Denton) Gauld’s sister! There is so much cult-like nepotism and keep-it-in-the-family corruption at Hyde, and efforts to distance all of the familial authority figures from taking any real responsibility for the terrible occurrences that plague the kids right under the adults’ noses .. Instead of handling it like the seasoned “educators” and “parental surrogates” they claim to be, they put it right back on the KIDS: “Let’s turn it back around on the GIRL and make HER confront the faculty member who sexually accosted her, because it’s between THEM!! We don’t have anything to do with it!”

Protect the family, the institution, the money flow/donations/image, reputation, and power at the expense of literally everyone else. PR, PR. Spin, spin, deflect, distance, blame, deny, discredit, cover up, distract, spin, pretend it was an exception and not the rule. That’s Hyde School’s protocol for handling these little inconveniences. They’ve been doing it for decades.

And to think that these people write books on parenting advice (and require Hyde parents to buy them), yet can’t even handle taking basic responsibility for protecting minors in their care from illegal, sexually violating, traumatizing experiences (perpetrated by other “guardians/caretakers,” no less!!!). What a horrifying joke.
« Last Edit: June 03, 2021, 05:26:04 AM by katfacehead89 »