Brentwood Academy Suit: Appeals Court Rules Case Can Be Refiled

NASHVILLE, TN -- Tennessee's Court of Appeals reversed a critical decision by a Williamson County judge in the civil suit filed against prestigious private school Brentwood Academy alleging the school covered up a locker room rape.

The court ruled unanimously Friday that Williamson County Circuit Court Judge Deanna Johnson erred when she dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice. The reversal opens the door for the suit to be refiled.

In December, attorneys for the plaintiffs - John Doe, the victim of the alleged locker room sexual assaults in 2014 and 2015, and his mother, Jane - asked Johnson to dismiss the case without prejudice, allowing them to refile the case at a later date.

Instead, Johnson dismissed the case with prejudice, essentially barring the Does from refiling the suit forever and can be an indication the judge believes the suit was brought in bad faith.

The appeals court ruled Johnson should have granted the original request and the court made that ruling without hearing oral arguments.

The suit has not been refiled as of Tuesday morning.

According to the original lawsuit, four then-eighth-graders raped, sexually assaulted and sexually harassed a 12-year-old in the 2014-15 academic year. When the boy's mother broached the topic with BA administrators, she was told by her son's counselor "this isn't how Christian institutions handle these things" and the school's headmaster Curtis G. Masters told John Doe " "everything in God's kingdom happens for a reason" and "turn the other cheek."

Brentwood Academy has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and in a statement sent to The Tennessean, said the school will "vigorously defend" itself in the event the suit comes back before a judge.

"The Brentwood Police Department’s Child Protective Investigative Team, an independent group which included the Tennessee Department of Children Services and the District Attorney’s Office, concluded that 'no criminal wrongdoing on the part of Brentwood Academy staff was discovered.'" the statement read.

The standard for civil liability is different from that for criminal prosecution.

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