Ex-Granby Middle School Student Files Lawsuit Over Bullying Accusations

GRANBY, CT — A former student at Granby Memorial Middle School is suing the town and school board, claiming she was bullied so badly she was afraid to continue attending and transferred to a private school instead.

The student, identified in court documents by the pseudonym “Amanda Doe,” and her mother filed the lawsuit in Superior Court in Hartford in September.

The litigation names both the town of Granby and the Granby Board of Education as defendants.

The lawsuit claims the girl was subjected to bullying, sexual harassment and abuse between September 2023 and May 2024, when she was a student at the middle school.

Doe’s attorney, Anthony Spinella of Manchester, wrote in the lawsuit that on Sept. 15, 2023, a male student and a group of his friends threatened to physically and sexually assault Doe.

The incident was reported to school officials, and Doe’s parents met with administrators to discuss concerns about her safety, the lawsuit states.

It says the school instituted a safety plan, which was supposed to include notifying all staff of the situation and ensuring Doe wasn’t in any classes with those students.

According to the lawsuit, around Dec. 1, 2023, the same male student and some of his friends cornered Doe, attempted to block her from leaving, and made “sexualized and threatening comments to her.” Doe ran down a hall and into a classroom to escape, and notified a teacher, the lawsuit states.

This incident prompted another meeting and updated safety plan, which reiterated how all staff would be notified of the situation and that the students couldn’t be near Doe.

According to the lawsuit, a substitute teacher who was not informed sent the male student to a classroom Doe was in to retrieve an item, and he stared at her “in a menacing manner.”

In May 2024, Doe attended a dance hosted by the town of Granby’s Youth Service Bureau, court documents show. The lawsuit claims the same student and a group of his friends surrounded Doe and her friends, and called them derogatory names and used “sexualized and racist language.”

At this point, Doe and her friends were “scared and crying,” and while dance chaperones intervened, the lawsuit claims Doe was again harassed and bullied as she walked outside to leave.

After this incident, Doe was afraid to return to the school, and she ultimately decided to go to a private school to ensure her safety and well-being, according to the lawsuit.

The dance incident was reported to police and school officials, according to the lawsuit. It claims school officials indicated they couldn’t do anything because it didn’t happen on school grounds.

The lawsuit claims the defendants were negligent, and failed to take appropriate action to protect Doe or appropriately discipline the offenders. It seeks compensatory damages.

Attorney James Williams of North Haven, who represents the defendants, could not be reached for comment on the litigation.