A former Caulfield Grammar student claims the school did not discipline a pupil who attacked him with boiling water, leaving him with physical and mental injuries that “changed the trajectory” of his life.
The now-20-year-old is suing the Melbourne private school after another student at the Wheelers Hill campus allegedly used a metal water bottle to pour the boiling water over his face and head in November 2019.
Caulfield Grammar is one of Melbourne’s biggest private schools.Credit: Joe Armao
In court documents filed to the Victorian County Court, the former student, who has spoken to The Age on the condition of anonymity, claims the school was aware the other boy “engaged in threatening and dangerous behaviour”.
The alleged victim, who was 15 at the time, also claims the school knew or should have known he was at “risk of foreseeable harm”.
After being hospitalised for his injuries, he then had to repeat year 10 and did non-scored VCE in 2020, he said.
“What happened to me wasn’t an accident; it wasn’t a misunderstanding. It was an act of cruelty, and I was the target,” he said in a statement through his lawyer, Aristea Nikolakakis from Shine Lawyers.
“The physical pain was horrible, but the emotional damage has stayed with me far longer.”
The former student said he suffers from severe post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the attack and his burns react adversely to sun exposure.
“What made it worse was how the school handled it. Because I was new, and because people didn’t know me yet, the teachers automatically assumed I was the one at fault,” he said.
The man alleges the school did not expel the other student after the incident, and did not hold the other teen accountable in “any meaningful way”.
His 18-year-old brother took him to hospital because the school didn’t call an ambulance, he said.
The keen soccer player was new to the school, and was looking forward to taking part in the sport at a high level, he said.
After the incident, he said, he was never the same.
“My mum said I used to be happy-go-lucky, always smiling, always social. Now I rarely go out with friends, and I often feel isolated,” he said.
“I don’t trust easily, not after what happened. That one moment changed the trajectory of my life, not just because of the trauma, but because of how people responded to it.”
Now, he works in a supermarket and is struggling to deal with his PTSD.
In legal documents, he claims the school failed to listen to warnings about the other student’s “propensity for violence”, failed to take any or adequate steps to keep him safe when it was aware of threats, and allowed the other student in his vicinity.
Nikolakakis said schools were meant to be safe spaces for children, but that wasn’t the case for her client.
“He will now have to live with the impacts of the school’s failures for the rest of his life, which is heartbreaking,” she said.
She said the school breached its duty of care when it failed to take action after being made aware of the physical threats against her client.
“We allege the school had ample warning that our client was in danger and, sadly, its failure to act has caused indelible damage to a teenager in his formative years.”
“This wasn’t an isolated issue, this was an ongoing situation the school was aware of between the other student and my client, and the school failed to protect my client by intervening when they should have.”
Caulfield Grammar declined to comment.
“The matter is before the court, and it is therefore inappropriate to comment at this time,” it said.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.