A judge ruled that a lawsuit accusing Sierra Canyon School in Chatsworth of allowing a student-run 'kissing club' to sexually abuse children as young as seven will proceed to a public jury trial, not private arbitration. The school denies the allegations.
*Sierra Canyon School in Chatsworth* will face a public jury trial over allegations that older students ran a "kissing club" that sexually abused children as young as seven inside campus bathrooms.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge David B. Gelfound denied the school's request to keep the case in private arbitration on Thursday, May 21. The ruling means the lawsuit filed by the parents of a nine-year-old girl identified as E.K. will proceed through the public court system.
According to the civil complaint filed December 1, older female students allegedly organized a "kissing club" inside Sierra Canyon's school restrooms. The lawsuit states that younger students were pressured, intimidated, and bullied into participating in sexual acts including forced kissing, genital touching, and oral copulation.
E.K. was seven years old when the alleged abuse began, the filing says. Her parents, Max and Pantea, allege that teachers and administrators failed to supervise bathroom areas, allowing the behavior to escalate unchecked.
The lawsuit further alleges that school staff eventually discovered video recordings of the sexual acts on students' cellphones but failed to promptly notify law enforcement or the victims' families. That allegation, if proven, would violate California's mandatory child abuse reporting laws.
"As a mother, the feeling of being hopeless and not being able to protect my child from this harm that 100% could have been avoided is crushing. My focus is on the systems and the safeguards that have failed to protect my child," Pantea said in a public statement reported by FOX 11.
Sierra Canyon had argued the case should be resolved through private arbitration, citing a pre-dispute agreement signed by the family. Judge Gelfound rejected that argument under the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (EFAA), a 2022 federal law that voids pre-dispute arbitration agreements for sexual assault and harassment claims.
"Here, (the parents) allege that E.K. was repeatedly harassed and bullied by older students during school hours, including forcing her to kiss older girls and touch their genital area. (The parents) further allege that the activity was allowed to continue because of the lack of adequate supervision by teachers, administrators and other agents, and that when Sierra Canyon became aware of the bullying and assault, it took no action," Judge Gelfound wrote in his ruling, according to MyNewsLA.
Sierra Canyon has denied the allegations. The school released a statement to FOX 11 saying the claims are "untrue and do not accurately reflect what occurred."
"Please know that protecting our students and ensuring that the truth is upheld remain at the core of our mission. We have never ignored concerns related to student care. When questions were raised in the summer of 2024, we reviewed them comprehensively and immediately took proactive measures we determined were appropriate," the school said.
The school also noted that the alleged ringleader of the kissing club is no longer enrolled, though she was never formally expelled, according to FOX 11 reporting.
Sam Dordulian of the Dordulian Law Group, who represents E.K.'s parents, told FOX 11 that this is the second lawsuit filed against Sierra Canyon involving similar allegations of unchecked student misconduct.
"The police will come out and say, 'there's seven and eight-year-olds involved there can't be any criminal intent with seven and eight-year-old children so there's no crime that's committed.' And that's what schools use to wash their hands," Dordulian said.
Defense attorneys for Sierra Canyon must now file a formal response to the lawsuit's allegations in public court. The case will enter the discovery phase, where both sides can exchange evidence, request internal school communications, and conduct depositions.
It is unclear whether local law enforcement or child protective services have launched a criminal investigation into the school's alleged failure to report the video evidence of sexual activity among minors, according to FOX 11.
Sierra Canyon has built its reputation partly on its high-profile student body. The school's attendees have included the children of LeBron James, Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, and the Kardashian-Jenner family, according to Daily Mail reporting. Tuition at the Chatsworth school runs as high as $48,600 per year in the upper grades and $41,800 per year in kindergarten through sixth grade.
Both E.K. and another alleged victim's family have since withdrawn their children from the school, according to FOX 11.
The jury trial date has not yet been set.
This article was generated with AI assistance.