A Black Los Angeles water polo player has filed a lawsuit against his former high school, alleging he was sexually assaulted and racially harassed by teammates for years while school staff failed to intervene.
Aidan Romain, 18, filed a lawsuit against Harvard-Westlake School, along with school President Richard Commons, water polo head coach Jack Grover, and his former teammate Lucca van der Woude, accusing them of allowing a “culture of harassment,” according to The Guardian.
In the lawsuit, filed on Feb. 27 in Los Angeles Superior Court, Romain and his family allege that the school ignored or minimized reports of the abuse in order to protect van der Woude, who was one of the team’s star players.
“Despite repeated, direct disclosures of sexual assault, the school failed to report the abuse, failed to remove the perpetrator, and instead retaliated against the victim,” the complaint says, according to The Guardian.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Romain alleged that van der Woude digitally penetrated him repeatedly and called him the N-word from August 2022 until February 2024. The abuse began when Romain was 14 years old and the only freshman on the varsity team.
Van der Woude was arrested by LA police on school grounds in February 2024, the complaint alleges. The school then “carried out a cover-up” of van der Woude’s behavior and facilitated his transfer to a new school, Newport Harbour High School, with a clean record, according to the complaint.
In November 2024, van der Woude admitted to digitally penetrating Romain in juvenile court, the complaint alleges, referencing coverage from The Orange County Register.
The complaint also recounted some of the alleged racist and harassing behavior Romain endured. Van der Woude and teammate Connor Kim allegedly whipped Romain in the weight room “in a re-enactment of slavery” while calling him racial slurs, according to The Guardian.
“Harvard-Westlake will not offer specific comment other than to say that it unequivocally disputes many of the allegations in the lawsuit because they mischaracterize facts and the school’s actions,” the school said in a statement, according to The Guardian.
“The school treated reports of inappropriate behavior in its water polo program with urgency and seriousness, promptly initiating an investigation and complying with its mandatory reporting obligations. The school also cooperated completely with law enforcement.”
After admitting to digitally penetrating Romain in November 2024, a juvenile court judge ordered van der Woude and his parents to pay more than $49,000 in restitution to partially cover Romain’s legal costs.
Van Der Woude, who is notably the son of high-profile Hollywood director Thomas “Basti” Van Der Woude, played for Golden West College, a community college in California, during the 2025-26 season.
Romain has since moved to Barcelona, Spain, where he plays professionally. He reportedly hopes to return to the United States and attend an Ivy League school with the future goal of representing the U.S. at the Olympics.
He is seeking damages in an amount to be proven at trial and an injunction ordering Harvard-Westlake to take steps to prevent any current or future students from dealing with sexual abuse.
“Part of the reason why I’m speaking up and standing up for myself is so that others don’t have to be in these kinds of situations,” he said, according to the New York Post.
“This lawsuit is born of a profound and unforgivable injustice,” Romain attorney Daniel Watkins said in a statement, according to the Los Angeles Times. “The truth is laid bare in the complaint — unvarnished, unflinching, undeniable. We welcome our day in court.”
Unfortunately this is typical water polo behavior. It is a racist and elitist sport, especially in California. I’m glad someone is finally standing up to the wealthy bullies. I’ve seen first hand 10+ years of this type of behavior while my child was playing. Hated the fact that he loved the sport or I would have happily pulled him out. Parents – keep your kids in swimming!