Kenneth L. Marcus. Photo: United States Department of Education.

On Tuesday, the legal activist nonprofit the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law submitted a complaint against Nysmith School in Sully Square, Virginia, charging that administrators retaliated against three Jewish students after their parents reported antisemitic harassment.

The filing on behalf of Brian Vazquez and Ashok Roy details how their 11-year-old daughter experienced sustained antisemitic bullying from classmates, including the epithet “baby-killer” and the taunt that she deserved to die because of the war in Gaza. Peers reportedly told the unnamed student that everyone at the school hates Jews and Israel, which is why they hated her. When her parents complained to the headmaster, they received promises of action but nothing followed.

The antisemitic harassment allegedly increased after the school installed a Palestinian flag and canceled a speech from a Holocaust survivor (out of fear that such an event would further inflame campus tensions over the Israel-Hamas conflict). When the parents objected again, the headmaster told them their daughter needed to “toughen up.” Two days later he sent the parents a letter informing them that all three of their children were expelled, an action not justified by any academic or disciplinary problems.

The complaint argues that Nysmith fostered an antisemitic environment and cites as evidence a photograph of a drawing made by students and shared by the school featuring the face of Adolf Hitler on an image meant to depict “strong historical leaders.”

Kenneth L. Marcus, chairman of the Brandeis Center called Nysmith’s actions against the students “disgraceful.”

The complaint shows “the administration not only dismissed this family’s pain and humiliation, but allowed an atmosphere that fostered antisemitism,” Marcus said. “Through its actions, the administration sent a clear message: bullying is acceptable, as long as it’s against Jewish families. We must all emulate the strength of these parents and their children and stand up to antisemitism and its perpetrators, as difficult as it may be. In addition to action from legal authorities, it is high time for public moral outrage; the normalization of antisemitism must stop.”

Dillon PLLC filed the complaint jointly with the Brandeis Center. “Summarily expelling three young Jewish kids in the middle of the school year after their parents voiced concerns about antisemitism is beyond the pale,” said firm partner Justin Dillon. “And don’t get me started about that picture of Hitler.”

The Algemeiner contacted the front office at Nysmith School for a response but did not receive a response by press time.