Former student sues Caulfield Grammar over alleged boiling water attack
The now-20-year-old is suing the Melbourne private school after another student at the Wheelers Hill campus allegedly used a metal water bottle to pour the boiling water over his face and head in November 2019.
In court documents filed to the Victorian County Court, the former student, who has spoken to The Age on the condition of anonymity, claims the school was aware the other boy 'engaged in threatening and dangerous behaviour'.
The alleged victim, who was 15 at the time, also claims the school knew or should have known he was at 'risk of foreseeable harm'.
After being hospitalised for his injuries, he then had to repeat year 10 and did non-scored VCE in 2020, he said.
'What happened to me wasn't an accident; it wasn't a misunderstanding. It was an act of cruelty, and I was the target,' he said in a statement through his lawyer, Aristea Nikolakakis from Shine Lawyers.
'The physical pain was horrible, but the emotional damage has stayed with me far longer.'
The former student said he suffers from severe post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the attack and his burns react adversely to sun exposure.
'What made it worse was how the school handled it. Because I was new, and because people didn't know me yet, the teachers automatically assumed I was the one at fault,' he said.
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