The NYC Department of Education is being sued in federal court by a young woman who says administrators turned a blind eye to the high school teacher who sexually abused her over the course of several months. Yesterday a description of the lawsuit, which accuses the DOE of negligence in its handling of high school teacher Sean Shaynak, was read outside of Brooklyn Technical High School.
Filed by sexual abuse attorney Jeff Herman on behalf of a former student, the suit seeks damages from the city for allegedly allowing the former math and science teacher to manipulate her into doing drugs, having sex and dating him. He's also alleged to have kidnapped and threatened the girl—referred to in the filing as "V.V."— on Halloween 2012 when he became upset that she no longer wanted to see him. Erratic and angry, Shaynak allegedly drove her away against her will to a secluded spot, where she managed to escape and hide from him.
Framed as a matter of negligence on the part of the Department of Education, the lawsuit invokes the Title IX statute, which prohibits gender discrimination at schools receiving federal funds. Victims of on-campus sexual assault have increasingly used this statute to sue colleges for failing to adequately address claims of rape.
Sean Shaynak (Facebook)
It is alleged that Brooklyn Technical High School had received multiple complaints about Shaynak's predatory behavior toward female students from teachers and other third parties, which they chose to ignore. "We think they knew quite a lot, starting with just his behaviors that were clearly red flags," Herman said. "Why they protected him is certainly what we're going to be asking."
Shaynak was hired at Brooklyn Technical High School in 2009. During the hiring process, it was revealed to the DOE that Shaynak had previously been arrested for assaulting a minor in Maryland. In November, an investigation by the Special Commissioner of Investigation's office determined that because Shaynak was never convicted of the crime, nor pleaded guilty or no contest to it, the DOE was within its bounds to hire him.
A colleague also told the Post earlier this year that Shaynak was a friend of Brooklyn Tech Principal Randy Asher, who "gave him free rein. They turned a blind eye to his indiscretions." Asher insisted that he'd only found out about the indiscretions after the press broke a story about Shaynak sending photos of his genitals to V. V.
Herman says Shaynak was kept on because he was also popular with the administration as the head of the school's aeronautics program, which was crucial for fundraising, "and unfortunately we think that's one of the reasons they kept Shaynak around. Putting money over the safety of students."
Herman also plans to file lawsuits on behalf of two more underage victims, one of whom also received a nude photo of Shaynak. According to Herman, Shaynak manipulated the girls into "compliant victims" of someone in a position of power, therefore infringing on their right to a discrimination-free education.
As Herman explained, "It was designed to bring their resistance down to make them feel like they had a secret with Sean Shaynak. Eventually he began to communicate with these girls on social media and he would take it to the next level and talk about inappropriate sexual things with students. And then, of course we know, sending nude photos of himself to girls and then having sex with some of these girls."
In a statement from V.V., the student says, "As a teacher, he was very cool to hang out with and talk to. I can totally understand how the other girls could look up to him. I feel like I was used. If I had a chance to sit down and talk to him, I would tell him what he did was sick and he should have stopped when I told him to stop."
Shaynak was arrested last summer and will remain behind bars until the first hearing, which is scheduled for the first week of February.
