Staffer Confined Students in School’s Boiler Room, Known as the ‘Dungeon’, to Punish Them: Lawsuit

The parents of three school children are suing Milwaukee Public Schools and several Thurston Woods School employees, alleging that their kids were confined in the school’s boiler room — described as the “dungeon” — to punish and frighten them. 

A complaint filed in court on Dec. 8, and later obtained by PEOPLE, stated that during the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 school years, the employees threatened students at the K4-8 school that if they do not behave, they would call the school’s paraprofessional — who is also named as a defendant —  “to take the students to the ‘dungeon’ and lock them inside with the lights turned off so that it would be pitch black. The students would be left inside with no ability to leave as form of punishment.”

The complaint stated that the “dungeon” was a basement-level boiler room that was loud due to the boiler running. The court documents also said the room was hazardous because of the chemical and cleaning agents stored inside. 

Attorney Drew DeVinney, who represents the three students and their parents in the lawsuit, shared video clips with PEOPLE showing the interior of Thurston Woods School’s boiler room. 

According to the complaint, when the paraprofessional confined the students in the “dungeon,” he would allegedly shut off the lights, leaving the students in pitch black darkness. The paraprofessional even allegedly required the students to remove their shoes inside.

Locked in the dark, the students “were subjected to the harsh smells of the chemicals and cleaning products that were stored in the boiler room,” court documents alleged. Sometimes the paraprofessional “would use his body as a barricade to the door to ensure the confined student was not able to leave the boiler room,” the complaint further stated.

The complaint noted that several of the Thurston Woods School employees at various times threatened and instructed the paraprofessional to take the kids to the “dungeon” for punishment. 

The three sets of parents whose children are named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit were not informed about the “dungeon” before its use, and they had not given their consent to it as a form of punishment, the court papers said.

The complaint also stated that when their parents asked their kids about the “dungeon,” some of them “would become so scared, stressed and upset that they would begin to cry.” The students allegedly experienced sleep issues, nightmares and were scared of returning to school due to the possibility of being in that room. 

According to the complaint, Milwaukee Public Schools began an investigation into the incidents surrounding the boiler room. The school district found that the paraprofessional violated administrative and disciplinary policies, and he was fired as a result of his actions. 

“As a result of the defendants’ conduct, the plaintiffs suffered damages, including past and future emotional distress, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, and other damages,” the complaint stated.

The complaint alleged, among other things, that some of the Thurston Woods School staff members named as defendants were negligent, Milwaukee Public Schools was negligent in the hiring, training and supervision of the school employees, and that several of the employees failed to intervene to prevent the children from being confined to the boiler room as a form of discipline, “despite having opportunity to do so.”

DeVinney provided PEOPLE a copy of a Nov. 8, 2023, letter by Milwaukee Public Schools confirming the termination of the Thurston Woods School paraprofessional’s employment with the district following a disciplinary hearing.

In an emailed statement to PEOPLE on Wednesday, Dec. 17, DeVinney described the conduct of Milwaukee Public Schools staff involved in the matter as “egregious.”

“We understand that the staff targeted the younger children, as young as six or seven years old, who were most vulnerable to these traumatic experiences,” DeVinney said in part. “The children describe being locked in a dark boiler room on numerous occasions, surrounded by chemicals, scared, with the lights off and their shoes removed. We’ve heard from parents who described unexplained changes in their children’s behavior during the school’s use of the ‘Dungeon,’ such as sudden fears of being in the dark, of being touched, and of being around strangers, which became understandable only when their parents learned about the ‘Dungeon.’ ”

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“Our clients share the goal of bringing this to light to prevent this from happening to other children,” he continued. “This would not happen without the strength of our clients. The district did not report any of these instances of seclusion and restraint to State, in violation of the law. Moreover, the sole video produced by the school district shows multiple staff members who witnessed this conduct and failed to stop it.”

In response to the lawsuit, a school district spokesman said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE that they are “committed to maintaining safe and welcoming learning environments for all students and staff.”

“While we cannot comment on ongoing litigation, the district thoroughly investigated this matter in 2023 and took appropriate disciplinary action which included termination of employment,” the spokesperson added.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.