Disclosure Of Abuse Claims Did Not Violate Order

A judge has ruled that former cadets who sued St. John’s Military School didn’t violate a protective order when their attorney disclosed in a filing that 339 students had complained of being beaten, hazed, harassed or abused over the past five years.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Kenneth Gale ruled Wednesday that the confidential list was properly filed under seal, while the public motion referenced only the number.

But the judge said portions of deposition transcripts from some witnesses that the plaintiffs publicly filed as exhibits violated the court’s protective order. He ordered those exhibits immediately sealed.

Gale also found that the failure to redact the name of a cadet accused of being a sexual offender was inadvertent. He says the issue is moot because a redacted version was later filed.