A former teacher at a Pittsfield all-girls boarding school at the center of a sexual misconduct case has been removed from a civil lawsuit by one of his accusers.
The move comes even as a criminal rape case continues against the former Miss Hall's School teacher, Matthew Rutledge, who has pleaded not guilty. It's also as other related criminal cases are in the courts — including a reckless endangerment charge against the school's former headmaster Jeannie Norris, who has also pleaded not guilty.
In 2024, Melissa Fares was the first graduate of Miss Hall's to put a face and name to allegations of sexual misconduct at the school. She accused Rutledge of grooming and raping her when she was a student in his care during her time at the school from 2007 to 2010. The move triggered a much larger reckoning with sexual abuse on the cloistered campus, with former attendees from across the decades attesting to a culture where relationships between staff and students happened frequently and openly, with attempts to speak out against them stifled by administrators.
Subsequent independent investigations into the claims including one by the Aleta Law Firm commissioned by Miss Hall’s and another by WAMC found those accounts to be credible.
In her lawsuit against Miss Hall’s, Rutledge, Norris, and three unnamed defendants in 2024, Fares accused administrators of suppressing claims of misconduct perpetuated by her alleged abuser and sought damages for the alleged abuse she experienced.
Two years later, after a long and complicated legal process, the Berkshire District Attorney’s Office charged Rutledge and Norris, with another former teacher also facing rape charges that stem from the early '90s. All have pleaded not guilty as their cases proceed in Berkshire Superior Court.
Berkshire Bureau Chief Josh Landes spoke with Fares about her decision to drop Rutledge from her civil suit.
INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT
Editor's note: this conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.
Fares: I included Matt in the civil suit initially in October 2024 because it was the only way I was going to be able to hold him accountable.
That is no longer true. He is being held criminally accountable, and so I've made the decision. And it's one of self-protection and empowerment, really, to drop him from the civil case because I am satisfied, frankly, that he is being held criminally accountable, and also I want to protect my mental health.
I can go into like all of what he would have had access to, and it's just it's ridiculous. This is me protecting myself. This is not me backing down at all. This is me doubling down on the criminal's end.
Landes: Now, since this whole journey began, we've seen the criminal investigation into the larger set of allegations against the institution of Miss Hall's expand to other former staffers beyond Matthew Rutledge. What's it been like for you to see this accountability that you've been seeking seemingly start to make its way forward in a criminal setting?
Fares: Oh, it's everything.
I mean, to see that Jeannie Norris was held criminally accountable on account of reckless endangerment of a child, that is huge. It sends a huge message to institutions everywhere and people everywhere that what she did doesn't fly and never flew.
And you will see criminal consequences from your horrible, horrible action. So I'm happy. I think that 'happy' is the wrong word. I'm proud to see that we are making headway, holding Miss Hall's and Jeannie Norris criminally accountable.
I think it's a really big deal for the Miss Hall's community, but also for the boarding school community everywhere and school community that these leaders who failed to protect children and do their number one job can be held criminally accountable and will be, no joke. I also am still wrestling with this sense of being deeply like betrayed by Jeannie Norris, by Miss Halls. So it makes me feel a lot at once. But I will say that the overwhelming feeling is pride and determination to see this through. But of course, I feel grief. I feel confused. I feel sad. I feel extremely angry. And so, it's a lot to hold.
Landes: In the face of everything you've just described, I imagine this emerging national story about what sounds like what is alleged to be similar systemic failures at Cornell University. As you see conversations about how sexual assault claims are handled by you know even larger institutions than Miss Hall's. What what has your reaction been to that as that story has emerged and sort of seized the the national conversation?
Fares: I'm extremely glad that people are speaking about what happened to Jane Doe at Cornell and that people are not letting Cornell, as an institution, get away with this, nor the seven accused boys.
It's been triggering, in a sense. I think to see it all in the news, it brings up a lot, but that's just something you have to deal with as a survivor. So sometimes I tap into the news, and sometimes I really have to tap out. But that doesn't mean that I don't care. I think that I'm glad that this story is getting so much attention. People need to know that this happens all the time. Fraternity culture is completely backwards.
This is not just a one-case thing. This is really rampant across the U.S. in colleges, in boarding schools, everywhere, and it's not just the U.S. by the way. So I'm proud of Jane Doe for taking the step. I feel for her for having to have waited two years like I did to see these people being held accountable. It's a long journey, but I stand with her and with all the Jane Does.
Landes: Given your unique vantage point on this situation, both at Cornell and here in Pittsfield, is there anything else about this you want to share that you want to make sure people understand about these efforts to find justice for these alleged crimes?
Fares: I want to say something about money. I think it's okay for survivors to want financial compensation. Survivors deserve it, and they deserve so much more than they ever get.
I think people love to dismiss survivors by saying they're only in it for the money or something along those lines, and that's not what this is, because even a survivor, if they want money, it's totally fine, and there's nothing wrong with that. I think that there's no harm in that. It's completely legitimate. I don't know why I feel like it's important to talk about. It's not like a comfortable thing to talk about, but it's important. People need to understand that survivors deserve financial compensation and so much more. And the people who write them off, saying they're only in it for the money, they need to put their energy elsewhere.
