fb-pixelSuit says kiss got girl tossed from camp - The Boston Globe Skip to main content

Suit says kiss got girl tossed from camp

WESTPORT, Conn. — The parents of a 15-year-old girl from Connecticut sued a summer camp in Massachusetts Monday, saying their daughter was kicked out of camp last month after a boy kissed her.

The girl was sent home from Camp Emerson in Hinsdale, and a camp official falsely accused her and the boy of sexually provocative behavior, says the lawsuit filed in Bridgeport Superior Court.

The lawsuit also said the girl suffers from emotional and psychological disorders including obsessive compulsive disorder.

Neither the girl nor her parents were named in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit seeks more than $600,000 in damages, alleging negligent infliction of emotional distress, defamation, and other claims.

Advertisement



Sue Lein, camp director, declined to comment.

The relationship between the girl and boy ‘‘became the summer romance that most teens yearn for,’’ the lawsuit said.

‘‘This summer romance made plaintiff Jane, a child of divorced parents who suffers from anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, and treats with a psychiatrist and medications, and who always felt insecure and inferior to her peers, feel confident and beautiful for the very first time in her life,’’ the lawsuit said.

A camp handbook does not prohibit kissing, and male counselors had encouraged the boy to kiss the girl, according to the lawsuit.

The girl, who lives in Westport, was escorted from the camp by a uniformed police officer and was barred from saying goodbye to her friends and counselors, according to the lawsuit.

The family spent $6,450 for the four-week session at the camp, which was not refunded, said Rosemarie Arnold, attorney for the family.