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The male colleague had previously been acquitted of indecently assaulting a student, the lawsuit notes.

By Abby Patkin

May 18, 2026 | 5:00 AM

3 minutes to read

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A Lynn Public Schools teacher is suing her employer, alleging district officials failed to take prompt action after she reported that she had been drugged and sexually assaulted by a male colleague.

In a May 7 lawsuit filed in Essex Superior Court, the teacher said school officials were slow to investigate the complaint and allowed the alleged assailant to continue working in the same building as her at Lynn Vocational Technical Institute. Boston.com is not naming the man because he has not been criminally charged in connection with the case. 

According to the lawsuit, the Lynn teacher spoke with her alleged attacker in December 2024 about filing a union grievance after a student with behavioral issues left her with a broken rib. She ultimately went on medical leave, and the male colleague came to her home in April 2025 to assist her with filing the grievance.

He allegedly arrived in the evening and asked if he could make himself a drink, then fixed alcoholic beverages for both of them. The teacher said she took one sip and remembered nothing else until she awoke around 3 a.m., naked and facedown in bed with the alleged assailant standing nude beside her and demanding oral sex. 

When she refused, the man allegedly sexually assaulted her and said he would be “coming around here a lot more,” so she would “have to learn” how to perform various sex acts, the lawsuit states. 

She blacked out again, waking the next morning to find the alleged assailant had texted her a heart emoji while she was unconscious, according to the complaint. Days later, he allegedly dropped off flowers and a card that said he was “sorry” and “thinking about [her].”

An at-home testing kit revealed the drink he made for her contained Rohypnol, GHB, and ketamine, according to the lawsuit, and the teacher reported the incident to Nahant police in mid-May. The Essex County District Attorney’s Office sought expedited drug testing on the drink but concluded it was too late to detect any substances through official means, according to the lawsuit. 

The DA’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Lynn Public Schools previously placed the alleged assailant on leave after he was accused of inappropriate conduct with a student in 2017, according to the complaint. He was ultimately found not guilty of indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or older. 

But according to the teacher’s lawsuit, school officials took no action for months after she reported her alleged sexual assault — even after she obtained a restraining order against the male colleague. Attorneys for Lynn Public Schools did not respond to a request for comment. 

The teacher says school officials notified her last October of her “right to file a formal complaint” under the school’s sexual harassment policy, demonstrating the district’s “failure to understand the gravity of the situation.” She was ultimately diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression, according to the complaint, and experienced “nightmares, vomiting, trouble eating, panic attacks, and twitching at loud sounds.”

After her lawyers contacted school officials in early November, they heard from an outside attorney who said the district had hired him to investigate the teacher’s claims. Less than a month later, the investigation concluded with the finding that Lynn Public Schools had “not violated any applicable policies of the school district,” according to the complaint. 

The teacher returned to work on March 31 and saw the alleged assailant on her first day back, “which, of course, brought back horrible memories of the sexual assault and sexual harassment,” the lawsuit states.

She alleges Lynn Public Schools has made her work in the same building as the alleged attacker, leaving her afraid to go to work each day. According to the complaint, she had a severe panic attack April 13 due to her fear of seeing the male colleague during a fire alarm. 

Her lawsuit, which seeks in excess of $500,000, alleges Lynn Public Schools is on the hook for the male colleague’s behavior because the school district failed to take prompt action after receiving her report. 

The male colleague is also named in the suit. Neither he nor Lynn Public Schools has filed a formal response to the complaint.