FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 2, 2021
RE: Metzger v. Manley et al Summons and Complaint
Thomas Counselors at Law, LLC (“TLC”); Jessica Woodrow, Esq., Gentile and Associates; and Meenan & Associates, LLC filed a lawsuit on behalf of the sexual assault survivor, Jeanne Metzger against The Family Foundation School (“FFS”) a/k/a Allynwood Academy related to the sexual abuse, sexual assault and rape that was perpetrated against Ms. Metzger by her counselor while she was a minor confined at FFS. Ms. Metzger was only 16 years old when she was raped by her counselor at FFS.
Ms. Metzger’s lawsuit alleges that the Family Foundation School represented to parents that it was a school for troubled teens with behavioral and addiction issues and that FFS could rehabilitate and “fix” your child.
However, the opposite was true. In 2018, the New York Times covered FFS’s high suicide rate among alumni and the egregious child abuse that took place there: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/02/nyregion/suicide-school-overdose-deaths-ny-family- foundation.html
Ms. Metzger’s lawsuit alleges that FFS engaged in an institutional campaign of subjugation, coercion, and indoctrination which groomed Ms. Metzger to submit to, accept, and be subservient to the institutional and individual abuse by Defendants, which caused and culminated in the sexual abuse and rape by Defendant CURTIS NEWSOME.
The lawsuit alleges that when FFS learned that Ms. Metzger had secretly reported the sexual assaults to the police, she was blamed, shamed, and subjected to a campaign of retaliation and punishment. FFS employees interrogated Ms. Metzger about the rapes, attempted to force her to not report the rapes to the police, and imposed a “House Blackout” punishment whereby Jeanne was forbidden to speak to or have contact with any other students or faculty members. Further retaliation in the form of psychological torment, food deprivation, manual labor, and forced solitary confinement
followed. A report drafted by FFS’s staff psychologist stated that Ms. Metzger’s “behavior with males was clearly compulsive.”
This lawsuit was filed pursuant to the Child Victims Act. The Child Victims Act opened a historic one-time window for victims and survivors of childhood sexual abuse in the State of New York to pursue time-barred claims which may be filed up until August 13, 2021. The enactment of the CVA allows Plaintiff to pursue restorative justice in New York State.