October 16, 2007

Woolly Bully: Student Sues College for Failing to Protect Him From Tormentor

A former student has sued Daniel Webster College, saying the New Hampshire institution was negligent in failing to protect him from a fellow student who harassed and assaulted him, The Telegraph, a newspaper in Nashua, N.H., reported today.

The plaintiff, Jerid Vilardo, enrolled at Daniel Webster in 2004, and within two weeks another student was antagonizing him, according to the lawsuit. One time the bully, who is not named in the lawsuit, opened Mr. Vilardo’s windows and struck him repeatedly with a lacrosse stick while he lay in bed, the suit says.

Mr. Vilardo argues that his dormitory was improperly supervised and its staff members insufficiently trained. He says administrators should have known that the bully had a history of hazing and abuse, and they should have expelled him once they learned of his behavior, which Mr. Vilardo brought to their attention. The college eventually expelled the bully, the lawsuit says, but he apparently continued to appear on the campus and harass Mr. Vilardo, who finally dropped out.

The lawsuit says Mr. Vilardo “had a reasonable expectation that he could rely upon the college’s obligation as both an educational institution and a residential program to maintain a safe environment.” Mr. Vilardo is seeking an unspecified amount in damages. —Sara Lipka

Comments

1. If the facts are as stated, it seems to me that he has a case.

   — Gustave    Oct 17, 09:26 AM    #

2. Why not — if a burglar can sue his victim, why can’t this student sue somebody?

   — Mark de Goz    Oct 17, 10:01 AM    #

3. If the bully assaulted Mr. Vilardo with a lacrosse stick, shouldn’t the bully have been arrested and sent to jail?

   — Kathe    Oct 17, 10:07 AM    #

4. Once lawyers get hold of something like this, the “facts” are never “as stated.”

   — Robert    Oct 17, 10:28 AM    #

5. Why the childish title to this article? This appears to be a serious case involving assault.

   — C.S.Nunis    Oct 17, 10:57 AM    #

6. Did the college try to cover this up so as not to have a negative impact on enrollment? If so, it will have the opposite effect. On the other hand, due process sometimes takes longer than it should and maybe the college needs to review its relative tolerance of such behavior.

   — jdr    Oct 17, 01:39 PM    #

7. Does anyone know why the bully was picking on him in particular?

   — LdL    Oct 17, 05:48 PM    #

8. Does it matter why the antagonist was being such a jerk?

   There is far too much tolerance of “good-natured boys being boys” in our elementary and high schools. Must we see it now putrify higher ed?

   — PRB    Oct 17, 05:57 PM    #

9. If the facts are as stated in the newspaper article, a good case to allege negligent supervision and you don’t need to name other student at this time.

   — Ross    Oct 17, 10:55 PM    #

10. Are you kidding me?? I’m sure there will be someone to protect this little guy around the clock when he gets out into the real world. Have we truely come to this as a society?? If you’re too much of a wuss to stand up for yourself, it MUST be someone else’s fault for not protecting you, right?

    — WTF?!    Oct 19, 12:31 PM    #

11. I worked at DWC as a safety officer until 2005 and feel bad for Mr. Vilardo. Unfortunately a lot of illegal activities get sweep under the rug to avoid bad publicity for the college. When you are an aviation college and train future pilots you don’t want any bad press. This is the reason why the school hires retired Nashua police officers to direct the campus safety department.

    — Nick    Oct 19, 07:07 PM    #

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