SAN ANTONIO – A second former Saint Mary’s Hall student on Wednesday joined a lawsuit filed against the San Antonio college preparatory school.
On Aug. 12, the school was sued by a former student who is only identified in the court filing as “Jane Doe.” That student accused St. Mary’s Hall and former Head of School Jonathan Eades of ignoring her claims of sexual harassment, bullying and sexual assault, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit is filed in Harris County, where Eades currently works at The Kinkaid Schools.
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The second student, identified as “John Doe” also alleged that he endured cyberbullying and bullying in-person. Like the first student, he alleges school officials knew about the allegations but did not properly look into them.
“Eades, on behalf of SMH, knew about the many incidents but did nothing to address them or implement any changes to prevent the next incident from occurring,” according to the court filing.
In a previous statement, Eades said he cannot comment on the legal matter, but said he cares deeply about all Saint Mary’s Hall students.
“During my time at Saint Mary’s Hall, we worked diligently to foster a culture of trust, respect and accountability,” Eades said. “Beyond that, because this is now a legal matter, it would not be appropriate to comment further.”
Saint Mary’s Hall issued this letter to parents and students after the lawsuit was initially filed.
”We were made aware of the situation this morning and we are working to gather the facts as we can,” Elizabeth Thompson, the school’s Director of Marketing and Communications said previously. “We’ll share information as soon as we’re able to do so.”
The lawsuit was filed after the creation of two Instagram pages that include several allegations of misconduct and racism at the school. One page, called “Women at SMH,” focuses on alleged abuse faced by girls who attended the school, while “Black at SMH” focuses on students who felt racially discriminated against during their time at Saint Mary’s Hall.
The lawsuit includes several screenshots from the Women at SMH Instagram page to show that the students are “not alone in being a victim” of the culture allowed by the school.