SUMMARY
The lawsuit, filed in February 2025, seeks to hold Kent School responsible for failing to implement adequate cybersecurity protections, failing to supervise its employee and failing to act to protect students after it received a report of misconduct in 2022. The employee, Daniel Clery, was the school's Network and Systems Administrator. He has been charged with two counts of computer crime in a separate, criminal action brought by the State of Connecticut. Most of the approximately 70 students affected were female, ranging in age from 14 to 18. The accessed files included intimate photographs and videos.
OVERVIEW
The plaintiffs allege that Clery exploited his privileged access to the school's network and computer systems to access, view, copy, and retain personal files belonging to students and staff over a period spanning from September 2016 through February 2023.
The lawsuit alleges that a female staff member reported to Kent School in the spring or summer of 2022 that Clery had improperly accessed her personal photographs. Rather than investigating immediately, the school waited eight months – until the same employee reported a second incident – before launching an internal investigation and terminating Clery in early 2023. The school retained an outside cybersecurity firm to examine Clery's work computers and Kent School's servers, which confirmed that Clery had accessed and copied personal files belonging to over 80 members of the Kent School community, including approximately 70 current and former students.
The lawsuit asserts claims for negligence, recklessness, invasion of privacy, computer crimes, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and violation of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA).
CASE UPDATES
March 9, 2026: Court Grants Class Certification
On March 9, 2026, the Connecticut Superior Court granted the plaintiffs' motion for class certification, certifying a class defined as all current or former students of Kent School who had personal information – including photographs, videos, and email communications –stored on an electronic device that was accessed, transferred, copied, retained, or utilized by Daniel Clery without their knowledge or consent from September 2016 through February 2023.
The court certified the class as to liability issues on the plaintiffs' claims for negligence, recklessness, and violation of CUTPA. Individual damages proceedings will follow. The court appointed SGT as co-lead class counsel.
CONTACT
If you are a current or former student of Kent School and believe your personal information may have been accessed without your consent, you may be a member of the certified class. SGT handles this matter on a contingency basis – there are no out-of-pocket costs to you.
To learn more about your rights or to discuss your situation confidentially, please contact us using the form below or reach out directly to Jennifer Goldstein at jgoldstein@sgtlaw.com or Jennifer Sclar at jsclar@sgtlaw.com.
