Allegations of severe bullying and racial harassment have emerged from the water polo team at Harvard-Westlake School, a prestigious private school in the Los Angeles area, after claims surfaced that teammates—including a Korean American student—recreated scenes resembling slavery by whipping a Black student.
The alleged victim has filed a lawsuit claiming he endured years of same-sex sexual assault, racial abuse, and physical bullying, naming both the students involved and the school as defendants.
According to the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Aidan Romain, 18, a former member of the Harvard-Westlake water polo team, filed the lawsuit accusing the school and related parties of sexual assault and racial discrimination. The complaint was submitted to the court on February 27.
In the filing, Romain alleges that from August 2022 through February 2024, he was repeatedly sexually assaulted, verbally abused with racist slurs, N-word targeting Black people, and physically attacked by an older teammate, Lucca Van der Woude. Romain further claims that during team training sessions, Van der Woude sexually assaulted him underwater by inserting his fingers.
The lawsuit also alleges that a Korean American teammate, Connor Kim, participated in the harassment. Romain claims Kim and Van der Woude whipped him in the school’s weight room while reenacting a slavery scenario. The complaint states that the two mocked him with racist insults nearly every day for approximately five months. It also notes that during a school investigation, the students acknowledged portions of the bullying behavior.
At the time, Van der Woude was considered one of the top athletes on the U.S. youth national water polo team and was widely regarded as a potential candidate for a future Olympic roster.
Romain stated in the complaint that he felt unable to speak out at the time because he feared that confronting a star player would jeopardize his place on the team and his future prospects.
According to the lawsuit, Romain’s parents met multiple times with the water polo coach, Jack Grover, and school administrators in 2023 to raise concerns about the bullying their son was experiencing. However, Romain’s family claims the school failed to report the incidents to authorities despite being aware of the allegations.
Romain also alleges that on February 13, 2024, he was sexually assaulted by another teammate in the school locker room shower. His parents reported the incident to the school, and approximately two weeks later, Van der Woude was arrested on campus by the Los Angeles Police Department.
Following the arrest, Van der Woude was removed from the school’s team activities and later transferred to another school. The plaintiff’s side claims the school attempted to cover up the incident by coordinating with Van der Woude’s family to manage the situation internally.
Daniel Watkins, an attorney representing Romain, said in a statement that the lawsuit stems from what he described as a “profound and unforgivable injustice.” “The truth is laid bare in the complaint – unvarnished, unflinching, undeniable. We welcome our day in court,” Watkins said.
BY KYEONGJUN KIM [kim.kyeongjun1@koreadaily.com]
