Suit against Norfolk school dropped
NORFOLK — A sexual harassment lawsuit filed by an ex-student against a private Norfolk high school has been withdrawn, but the woman’s claims against the institution’s former leader are moving forward.
Keelin Hogan filed her first lawsuit in June against Paul Warren, the co-founder and former leader of The Hague School. The complaint alleged Warren began sexually harassing Hogan in the fall of 2021, when she was a 16-year-old student.
Hogan filed an amended complaint in September in which she stated that after submitting her initial court action, she learned Warren had exhibited similar inappropriate behavior with Arianna Shipp, the school’s 19-year-old physical education teacher.
The new complaint alleged Shipp notified
Warren’s wife, Jennifer Warren, then associate head of school, of his behavior in May 2020 — more than a year before Warren allegedly began harassing Hogan. Shipp said Jennifer Warren told her she’d discussed the situation with Paul Warren and “made assurances of changes.”
But on Oct. 9, Hogan filed a motion to withdraw her complaint against the school, and it was granted the next day by Norfolk Circuit Judge Jerrauld C. Jones. The motion said Hogan and her attorney, Diane Toscano, had “engaged in multiple conversations with representatives of the Hague School” and had agreed to nonsuit their complaint against the institution.
Toscano said in a statement Tuesday that the decision was made “as a result of certain changes made and actions taken by The Hague School since we filed our complaint.”
Mike Spencer, head of school for The Hague School, also issued a statement Tuesday in which he expressed the school’s gratitude for the move to remove it from the case.
“We are heartened by Ms. Hogan’s decision to non-suit the school,” Spencer said. “We were able to provide her with proof that we have adequate separation from the former administration, and that no one associated with the school at the time the alleged employee harassment took place, other than Paul and Jennifer Warren, had any knowledge of what happened. With this legal burden lifted, we can continue to move forward in bolstering the school’s unique and promising vision, which combines small group discussion-style learning with the rigorous standards of the International Baccalaureate curriculum.”
Paul Warren and Jennifer Warren co-founded
The Hague School, which opened its doors to students in 2019. The school’s board terminated Paul Warren in January after learning about Hogan’s allegations, and neither he nor his wife are affiliated with the school now.
Hogan’s case against Paul Warren is scheduled for a motions hearing Dec. 15. Warren’s attorney, S.W. Dawson, did not respond Tuesday to a message seeking comment.
Dawson filed a motion last month in which he wrote that Paul Warren has never been employed by the school, and never received any salary or other compensation from it. The document also said Warren founded it primarily with personal funds and loans personally guaranteed to him, and that he remains the institution’s largest donor.