Conn. girl kicked out of summer camp in Mass. over kiss from boy, lawsuit says

WESTPORT, Conn. — The parents of a 15-year-old Connecticut girl sued a summer camp in Massachusetts on Monday, saying their daughter was kicked out of camp last month after a boy kissed her.

The girl was sent home from Camp Emerson in Hinsdale and a camp official falsely accused her and the boy of sexually provocative behavior, according to the lawsuit filed in Bridgeport Superior Court. It also says she suffers from emotional and psychological disorders including obsessive compulsive disorder.

Neither the girl nor her parents are named in the suit. The boy was also kicked out of camp, said Rosemarie Arnold, attorney for the girl's family. Sue Lein, the camp director, declined to comment.

The relationship between the girl and boy "became the summer romance that most teens yearn for," the lawsuit said.

"This summer romance made plaintiff Jane, a child of divorced parents who suffers from anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder and treats with a psychiatrist and medications, and who always felt insecure and inferior to her peers, feel confident and beautiful for the very first time in her life," the lawsuit said.

Male counselors at the camp had encouraged the boy to kiss the girl, according to the lawsuit. A camp handbook does not prohibit kissing, the suit said.

The girl, who lives in Westport, was escorted out of the camp by a uniformed police officer and was forbidden from saying goodbye to her friends and counselors, according to the lawsuit. The family spent $6,450 for the four-week camp, which was not refunded, Arnold said.

The lawsuit seeks more than $600,000 in damages, alleging negligent infliction of emotional distress, defamation and other claims.