PRESS RELEASE: Justice Law Collaborative and Island Justice Law File Class Action Lawsuit Against Hyde School (Maine) alleging abuse, neglect, and forced labor

Boarding School Founding Family Members Laura Gauld, Malcolm Gauld, Georgia Gauld Macmillan, Malcolm Macmillan, and Laurie Gauld Hurd Named in Complaint

BOSTON, Mass. (July 11, 2025)  – Justice Law Collaborative (JLC), along with co-counsel Island Justice Law, today filed a federal class action lawsuit against Hyde School (Hyde), a Maine-based private, college preparatory boarding school for teenagers in grades 9-12. The lawsuit exposes deeply troubling allegations of child abuse, neglect, and forced labor used to control and exploit vulnerable students under the guise of “character development” and “innovative education”.

The class action lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the District of Maine, is supported by dozens of former Hyde students who allege they were trafficked, abused, and exploited through a systemic scheme orchestrated by the school’s founding family, the Gaulds. While marketed as a character-building program for struggling teens, Hyde instead operated a coercive, punitive system that prioritized profit and control over education and care. 

Further, the promised academic curriculum was minimal and frequently led by unqualified staff with little to no tenure. Former Hyde students report spending more time performing forced labor than receiving formal classroom instruction as their families paid tens of thousands of dollars annually in tuition under false promises of specialized and innovative education. The lawsuit further alleges that Hyde’s polished marketing concealed a stark and troubling reality in which students were denied basic necessities, prevented from obtaining needed medical attention, and existed within a punitive disciplinary environment consisting of constant surveillance, interrogation, lost food privileges, lost access to family contact, manual labor in extreme weather conditions without protective gear, and threats of violence, isolation and restraint. 

Kelly Guagenty, troubled teen industry attorney and partner of Justice Law Collaborative said, “The Hyde survivors who have come forward en masse have shown extraordinary strength in recounting painful experiences that shaped the course of their lives. There was little, if any, individualized education or character development - only systematic manipulation and coercion designed to extract free labor while maximizing tuition payments. To date, neither the Hyde School nor the Gauld family has taken responsibility for the harm our clients allege they suffered.” 

The Gauld family, who founded Hyde nearly six decades ago, have run the school as a profitable, tightly-controlled family enterprise. Family members have played a collaborative role within the systematic recruitment, manipulation, and exploitation of students, while basking in the financial benefits generated by Hyde’s operations. Additionally, multiple family members have held, or continue to hold, key executive positions at the facility. Malcolm Gauld currently serves as Executive Director. His wife, Laura Gauld, currently serves as president and Head of School. 

“Families of students sent to Hyde were sold a bill of goods,” continued Guagenty. “They were told their children would receive a life-changing education, unconditional acceptance, and a safe environment focused on building character rather than breaking students down. That narrative, supplied by Hyde, is the exact opposite of what class members experienced.”  

Class members have consistently and repeatedly reported that Hyde abused students emotionally, physically, and psychologically to break down their sense of self and to ensure compliance. Students were subjected to constant surveillance, placed in isolation, denied food, slammed into walls, choked, and pushed to the ground by Hyde staff. Instead of attending classes, those who did not ‘comply’ were placed in isolation, put on food restriction, and forced to complete manual labor both around and off campus. Other non-compliance tactics included forced exercise to the point of vomiting and collapse, in freezing conditions, and regardless of physical injury, broken bones, or illness. Notable examples include forcing a student with a broken hip, sustained in a car accident, to run (causing further, life-long injury) and another student to do sit-ups in dog feces without an allowance to shower or change clothes once said punishment concluded. 

“We stand beside these survivors and will advocate for them with the utmost care, integrity, and respect,” continued Guagenty. “Their pursuit of justice is not only personal but part of a broader effort to expose and end institutional abuse that has remained hidden for far too long.”

About Justice Law Collaborative

Justice Law Collaborative (JLC), with offices in California and Massachusetts, embodies the highest level of professional, trauma-informed legal expertise in social justice and advocacy. Owned and led entirely by women, the firm has represented athletes abused by Olympic coach Larry Nassar, teenagers tormented by hostile, uncertified schools parading as therapy-based programs for troubled teens, and has represented consumers and patients harmed by corporate greed and negligence, specifically the pharmaceutical, reproductive medicine, and tobacco industries. JLC attorneys have extensive experience in pharmaceutical and medical device litigation, wrongful death, medical malpractice, reproductive rights, sexual assault and abuse, and personal injury cases. Additionally, the firm is dedicated to legislative reform, spearheading efforts to modify statutes of limitations and enact new laws to protect the innocent and to provide proper financial and judicial remedies to victims. Justice Law Collaborative was ranked a 2025 Best Law Firm by Best Lawyers®, and firm partners have been named to Massachusetts Super Lawyer® and Best Lawyers® lists for multiple, consecutive years. After a duo of mergers in January (Yaeger Law) and June (KBM Law) of 2025, Justice Law Collaborative became the largest, all-women-owned and led plaintiffs’ firm in the country, with attorneys admitted to practice in California, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Texas. More information about the firm and its far-reaching results can be found at: www.justicelawcollaborative.com. 

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Media contact: Wendy Agudelo; wendy@imageprofessors.com

UPDATES:

NewsCenter Maine: The Hyde School’s 'hidden curriculum': Former students allege decades of undercover abuse; July 11, 2025

Portland Press Herald: Hyde boarding school accused of abusing students, forced manual labor; July 11, 2025