On October 1, 2019, for no fault of her own, Grace Rogerson was forced out of Havergal College. According to Havergal, Grace’s father Andrew Rogerson purportedly breached its Code of Conduct through his behaviour in rebuking a junior teacher who was yawning in his face with her mouth open, rolling her eyes in boredom and shouting over him, as he tried to discuss the violent behavior of the bully child.
Grace’s expulsion from Havergal followed almost a years’ worth of persistent and ongoing complaints by Mr. Rogerson about the physical/violent and psychological/emotional bullying behaviour of the fellow pupil at Havergal. The school not only failed to take action to stop the violence: it covered it up. The violent girl is a member of a prominent and influential family.
On October 18, 2019, the Statement of Claim in this matter was issued in Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice against Havergal College, its Headmistress, Catherine Misson, and its Headof the Junior School, Kate White. It swiftly followed the expulsion of seven-year-old Grace Rogerson. The claim is for damages in the amount of $5.5 million. The identity of the bully is protected by the court and she is therefore referred to as Student Q.
See Mother Doe and Jane Doe v. Havergal College et al. for more information about how Havergal College addresses bullying at the school.