Disciplinary school faces forced labor suit

PORTLAND, Maine — A federal court in Maine partially denied a putative class of students’ claims against a “character development” school that used a surveillance system that conscripted students into policing one another such that, “if a student fails to report a peer’s infraction, the school treats the silent bystander as complicit, placing her ‘in the same disciplinary boat’ as the offender,” as well as “‘attack therapy,’ which required students to ‘s[it] in a circle while staff and peers screamed verbal attacks at them’” and students who refused were further punished. The school faces claims for involuntary servitude, forced labor and attempt and conspiracy to violate forced labor laws.Read the ruling here.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads