An 18-year-old former star water polo player at a prestigious Los Angeles prep school has filed a lawsuit claiming he was repeatedly sexually assaulted, racially harassed, and humiliated by teammates while school officials allegedly failed to intervene.
Aidan Romain filed the civil lawsuit on Feb. 27 in Los Angeles County Superior Court against Harvard-Westlake School, several school officials, and a former student, Lucca Van der Woude.
In the complaint, Romain claims he was subjected to repeated abuse by three teammates on the school’s water polo team between August 2022 and February 2024. According to the lawsuit, some of the alleged incidents occurred on campus, including near the school’s pool facilities.
Romain alleges that Van der Woude repeatedly ambushed him from behind and sexually assaulted him, sometimes in the presence of school staff or other students.
The lawsuit claims Romain reported the alleged abuse after learning the same teammate had targeted another student. However, the filing accuses the school of failing to take appropriate action.
According to the complaint, the school did not report the alleged incidents to law enforcement or child protection authorities and did not remove the accused student from the program.
Romain also alleges he was subjected to repeated racial harassment. The lawsuit claims he was called the N-word frequently by two teammates and was subjected to humiliating acts meant to mock slavery during workouts in the weight room.
The complaint states the racial slurs occurred almost daily over a period of about five months.
According to the filing, school administrators questioned the students involved, and the accused teammates allegedly admitted to using racial slurs. Despite that, the lawsuit claims the school failed to properly protect Romain and instead retaliated against him when he continued speaking out.
The filing also alleges that the school never contacted police, never notified child welfare authorities, and never informed Romain’s parents about the alleged abuse.
Harvard-Westlake strongly disputes the allegations. In a statement, the school said it treated reports of misconduct within the water polo program seriously and immediately launched an investigation.
The school also said it complied with mandatory reporting requirements and cooperated fully with law enforcement.
Meanwhile, an attorney representing Van der Woude denied all accusations.
The lawyer said his client “categorically and unequivocally denies each and every allegation” and expressed confidence that the truth will come out during the legal process.
In an interview published this week, Romain said he felt pressure to endure the alleged abuse because he feared speaking out might destroy his dream of playing water polo at the highest levels.
“I want to play Division I in college,” he said. “I want to play professionally in Europe. I didn’t think I could achieve any of those dreams if I wasn’t playing water polo at Harvard-Westlake.”
The case has taken a heavy emotional toll on Romain and his family. His father said the situation has kept them up at night for months.
The lawsuit seeks damages for what the family describes as long-lasting harm that could affect Romain for the rest of his life.
What's Up Team