Lawsuits against Idyllwild Arts

On Dec. 17, 2021, a former 16-year-old student at Idyllwild Arts Academy (IAA) — identified only as Jane Doe — filed a complaint for damages in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against Idyllwild Arts Foundation (IAF) and IAA, in 10 “causes of action” pleading violations of Title IX of the U.S. Code, sexual harassment, gender violence and sexual battery in violation of several California Civil Code sections, in addition to assault, negligence, negligent supervision, negligent hiring and retention, breach of fiduciary duty and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

According to attorney Zarrina Ozari, co-counsel for plaintiff Doe along with Lawrence A. Organ, both of California Civil Rights Law Group in San Anselmo that lawsuit was withdrawn from federal court and refiled in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the county of residence of defendant Keith Lewis, who is sued as an individual along with defendant IAF.

The complaint is based on the alleged conduct of Lewis, a former instructor at IAA, occurring in February and March 2019 against the Doe student shortly after IAA allegedly hired Lewis.

The 30-page complaint for damages sometimes refers to IAF and IAA as simply “Idyllwild,” possibly making it appear as if charges are brought against the community of Idyllwild, which — of course — they are not.

The complaint alleges that IAA had previously employed another instructor who had sexually assaulted and harassed minor students, but that IAA had failed to inform prospective students of the prior incidence or incidences and failed to take adequate measures to ensure that future students were not sexually assaulted.

Plaintiff Doe alleges that she attended two years of high school in Marin County then applied to IAA for further high school years. She alleges she was taking part in a feature film project directly under the instruction of Lewis, allegedly aged 60, during the spring semester of 2019 when she experienced physical, verbal and visual sexual assault, harassment and abuse from Lewis. Details are alleged in the complaint.

Plaintiff alleges she reported the conduct to Annette Haywood-Carter, who was then chair of IAA’s Film & Digital Media Department, but she did not receive satisfaction in that Haywood-Carter allegedly was indifferent to or dismissive of plaintiff’s claims.

Plaintiff further alleges she filed charges with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, and that she later needed therapy relating to emotional distress caused by her experiences at IAA.

Plaintiff Doe pleads a cause of action for Title IX violations against defendant IAF, doing business as IAA, only. She pleads more causes of action for sexual harassment, negligence and negligent supervision, negligent hiring and retention, breach of fiduciary duty and intentional infliction of emotional distress against all defendants. She pleads causes of action for gender violence, assault and sexual battery against defendant Lewis only.

Plaintiff Doe’s complaint seeks unspecified general, special, exemplary and punitive damages according to proof at trial, treble damages under California Code of Civil Procedure § 340.1, interest, attorneys’ fees and costs of suit. She also seeks “injunctive relief to require defendant to better train its staff on sexual harassment and develop effective policies and procedures to ensure that when harassment is reported, Idyllwild (i.e., IAA) takes effective remedial measures.”

On June 19, 2020, a few months after the incidents alleged in plaintiff Doe’s complaint, AHaywood-Carter filed her own complaint against IAF in Los Angeles County Superior Court alleging wrongful termi(((APPEND)))nation of her employment at IAA. That matter was later refiled in Riverside County Superior Court in a complaint against IAF consisting of five causes of action: wrongful termination in violation of the California Government Code, wrongful retaliation, wrongful discharge and failure to pay wages in violation of California Labor Code sections, and breach of contract.

The nine-page Riverside County complaint was filed by attorneys Douglas N. Silverstein and Catherine J. Roland of Kesluk, Silverstein, Jacob & Morrison, in Los Angeles. Haywood-Carter’s lawsuit makes allegations against IAF President Pamela Jordan, but she is not named in the caption as an individual defendant.

The Town Crier reached out to Jordan and Lewis for comment but did not receive responses by press time.