A federal judge heard arguments Friday on a motion to dismiss a class action lawsuit against Hyde School, a Bath, Maine boarding school accused of abuse, forced labor, and trafficking of students. The hearing before Judge Stacey Neumann in U.S. District Court for the District of Maine marked the first oral arguments in the case brought by Jessica Fuller, who alleges she experienced physical and emotional abuse during her seven-month enrollment in 2014 and 2015.
Fuller’s attorneys are seeking to certify a class that could include more than 100 former students who say they suffered similar abuse and exploitation. The school has strongly denied the allegations and filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that Fuller lacks standing to sue because she didn’t personally experience all of the harms the case claims during her brief time at the school.
Sarah Grossnickle, an attorney for Hyde School, told the judge that Fuller could have avoided forced labor by following school rules, and that “not all forms of coercion that motivate someone to work are unlawful and amount to involuntary servitude.” She also argued that Fuller shouldn’t be able to bring claims against three named defendants—former school leaders who did not work at Hyde during the years Fuller attended.
Kim Dougherty, an attorney representing Fuller, countered that her client was a vulnerable child removed from her community, suffering from depression and coping with sexual assault, who was promised therapeutic support but instead subjected to labor and what she called “attack therapy.” Dougherty cited cases where courts declined to dismiss similar forced labor complaints at early stages and said Fuller has the right to plead on behalf of a class before certification.
Judge Neumann told the parties she doesn’t typically hold oral arguments at the motion-to-dismiss stage but said Friday’s hearing had been very helpful. Dougherty asked that the case be allowed to proceed to the discovery phase, and she noted that the plaintiffs have other potential class representatives they could add if the court requested it.
The lawsuit was filed in July 2025 and alleges that Hyde School, founded in 1966, participated in the “Troubled Teen Industry,” a network of schools that critics say profit from therapeutic intervention while subjecting students to abuse. The Portland Press Herald has interviewed more than 50 former students who described long-term psychological harm from their time at Hyde. However, most cannot participate in the suit due to a 10-year statute of limitations, though Dougherty suggested the attorneys may pursue claims under a federal statute allowing victims of forced labor who were minors at the time to file with no statute of limitations if the incident occurred after 1994.
The case encountered complications in late 2025 when school attorneys pointed out citation errors in filings by Kelly Guagenty, one of Fuller’s lawyers. Guagenty admitted the errors stemmed from AI-generated work. She was sanctioned by the judge and required to take a course on AI use in law. A Maine-based attorney affiliated with the case withdrew over the errors, but Guagenty found a new in-state attorney, Kevin Fitzgerald, allowing her and Dougherty to continue the case despite being based in Massachusetts.
Sources
- Portland Press Herald — First-hand account of the July 10, 2026 federal court hearing, arguments from both sides’ attorneys, and background on the case trajectory
- Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse — Case summary and allegations that Hyde School’s family owners participated in the Troubled Teen Industry
- Justice Law Collaborative — Press release confirming the class action lawsuit filing in July 2025 and allegations of abuse and forced labor spanning decades
