A former student is suing his prestigious Melbourne grammar school after he began suffering from a post-traumatic stress disorder after a violent incident on campus.
The young man – who has asked to remain anonymous – alleged a fellow student at Caulfield Grammar School poured hot liquid over his head and face in late 2019.
‘At 15 years old, I was just settling into a new school with high hopes and big dreams,’the now-20-year-old said in a statement shared with Daily Mail Australia.
‘What happened to me wasn’t an accident; it wasn’t a misunderstanding. It was an act of cruelty, and I was the target.
‘The physical pain was horrible, but the emotional damage has stayed with me far longer.’
In a writ filed with Victoria’s County Court on June 17, the former student listed injuries including post-traumatic stress disorder, scarring, and pain and shock.
He said he incurred hospital and medical expenses, as well as claiming a loss of earnings and loss of earning capacity.
‘As a result of his injury, the Plaintiff repeated Year 10 and did a non-scored VCE in 2020. Presently, (he) is working in a supermarket,’ the writ said.
A young man from Melbourne has said an alleged cruel incident at his grammar school changed the course of his life after he had to repeat Year 10 (stock image)
‘I haven’t been the same. My mum said I used to be happy-go-lucky, always smiling, always social,’ he said.
‘Now I rarely go out with friends, and I often feel isolated. I don’t trust easily, not after what happened. That one moment changed the trajectory of my life.’
He described how, to most people, he looks ‘fine’ but added: ‘When I’m out in the sun, the affected skin reacts, and I also suffer from severe PTSD’.
The writ describes at least 15 alleged failings by Caulfield Grammar which the young man’s solicitor Aristea Nikolakakis, from Shine Lawyers, has outlined.
‘We allege the school was warned about this student’s propensity for violence and yet did nothing to protect our client,’ she said in a statement.
‘We allege our client had been physically threatened by this student in the past and yet nothing was done to keep him safe.’
She alleged the school breached its duty of care to the young man by not taking action over the threat and that it had ‘ample warning’ that he was ‘in danger’.
‘This wasn’t an isolated issue,’ Ms Nikolakakis said.
The young man is suing Caulfield Grammar School (pictured) for their response to the alleged incident. The school said it would not comment while the matter was before the courts
‘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.’
The young man said the management of the alleged incident on the school’s Wheelers Hill campus is ‘what made it worse’ and claimed teachers assumed he was at fault because he was new.
‘They believed the other student, someone who had been there longer. The school did me a disservice, not only by failing to hold the student accountable in a meaningful way, but also by failing to support me during… and after the incident,’ he said.
He also said Caulfield Grammar never called an ambulance and that his 18-year-old brother had to take him to the hospital.
‘I had strong ambitions, especially in soccer,’ he said, adding that a change of rules then stumped his hopes of earning the role of captain.
‘That leadership role, that recognition of my hard work, was taken away, just like everything else that year.
‘I still wonder what life might have looked like if that incident had never happened.’
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Caulfield Grammar for comment.
A spokesman for the $42,114-a-year school told the Herald Sun: ‘The matter is before the court and it is therefore inappropriate to comment at this time’.
