Lawsuit: Conn. Girl Kicked Out Of Camp After Kissing Boy

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A lawsuit filed Monday claims a Connecticut girl was "humiliated" and "embarrassed" after she was kicked out of sleep-away camp after kissing a boy.

The girl's daughter was spending her fifth summer at Camp Emerson in the Berkshires.

On July 11, the eve of her 15th birthday, she shared an "innocent" kiss with a 15-year-old boy behind the arts and crafts building, 1010 WINS' Steve Sandberg reported.

"Kissing, that was all that was going on," the girl's father told Sandberg. 1010 is not identifying the family because the girl is underage.

After finding out about the kiss, the director of the camp "yelled" and "screamed" at the teens and "falsely accused them of sexually provocative behavior including the removal of each other's clothing," according to court papers.

The director also told the girl that she was a "slut" and a "tramp," according to the lawsuit.

Both teens were immediately kicked out of camp.

According to court papers, the director erroneously told parents that the girl "had removed her bra" during the kiss and was expelled "for the campers' safety because her acts were dangerous."

The girl's father said when he came to pick up his daughter, he wasn't allowed onto the campgrounds and she was escorted out by a uniformed and armed police officer.

"I'm a conservative, strict, prude father, especially when it comes to my daughters, but a kiss in summer camp isn't something that should result in being booted out of camp," he said.

The camp does not prohibit kissing, according to the lawsuit, which also said campers are given three strikes before they are kicked out. The lawsuit claims the girl never broke any rules and "was kicked out of camp after her very first, though undeserved, 'strike.'"

The lawsuit claims that others at the camp were "caught kissing," "in bed together," "bringing condoms to the camp," "urinating on other campers," "viciously insulting other campers" and "calling the nutritionist fat," but "were never kicked out or reprimanded in any other way."

The lawsuit alleges that counselors had also been caught smoking, drinking alcohol and doing drugs but were never disciplined.

The lawsuit, which was filed by attorney Rosemarie Arnold, claims the girl suffered severe emotional distress and mental anguish and seeks punitive and compensatory damages, including a refund. The camp costs $6,600 for a four-week session.

1010 WINS called Camp Emerson and is awaiting a response.

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