by P.D. Lesko
Read and download Judge Van den Bergh’s three-page opinion below:
Peter B. Fayroian’s word may be law of the land at the local private school (Greenhills) where he is the principal, but Fayroian had no luck convincing Washtenaw County Trial Court judges to rule his personal interests and protecting his reputation override rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court, the protections of the First Amendment and reporting in the public interest. In the space of a dozen days, Fayroian’s lawyer, Andrew Bossory of Joshi Law, filed three Motions for Prior Restraint in the Trial Court against The Ann Arbor Independent. Next, Fayroian through Bossory filed a Motion to seal Fayroian’s case file, because The Ann Arbor Independent had published “Greenhills Head of School Accused of Sexual Abuse,” on Oct. 28, 2024. On Nov. 12, Washtenaw County Circuit Court Judge Tracy E. Van den Bergh denied Fayroian’s Motion to seal case 20-000326-DM. In her written opinion, the judge sharply criticized the Greenhills principal and his motives in requesting the seal.
Prior restraint has been ruled against by the U.S. Supreme Court five times since 1931. Prior restraint requires a judge to rule that a newspaper may not publish yet-to-be written or yet-to-be published materials. In Nebraska Press Assn. v. Stuart, 427 U.S. 539 (1976), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled prior restraint “the most serious and the least tolerable infringement on First Amendment rights.” Lower court judges in the U.S. don’t have the legal right to impose prior restraint.
It’s unclear whether Fayroian’s attorney was familiar with the Supreme Court rulings on prior restraint; Trial Court Judge Julia B. Owdziej quickly denied all of Fayroian’s Ex Parte (no hearing necessary) prior restraint Motions.
Fayroian then filed a Motion to Seal the case records from his divorce proceedings in order to stop the Ann Arbor Independent from reporting on the sexual, domestic, and physical abuse allegations made against Fayroian in the public filings and in other public records.
Fayroian’s Motion to Seal was primarily based on allegations that the A2Indy’s reporting had defamed him. However, to date, Peter Fayroian has not responded to any request for comment and has not submitted any specific correction to the newspaper.
Judge Van den Bergh in a three-page written opinion opined that Fayroian’s request was self-serving: “The Court finds it is primarily the Plaintiff’s [Fayroian] reputation that he seeks to protect and that does not provide good cause to seal this file.” The judge added, “The Court does not find that there is a specific and viable claim to protect the children’s interests.”
The Judge’s opinion went on to remind Fayroian that it was he who had “widely disseminated information about this case to numerous notable members of the Ann Arbor Community, to support his court filings denying sexual abuse allegations. This includes teachers and counselors at his daughter’s school, where Plaintiff is principal and over whom he arguably has supervisory powers.”
In a public Aug. 30, 2024 160-page Response to Judge Van den Bergh’s Aug. 20, 2024 Ex Parte Order stripping Fayroian of his parenting-time rights, there were 38 letters of reference included. The letters were written by mental health professionals, doctors and teachers, among others. In addition, weeks before the Aug. 30 filing, while being interviewed by the AAPD during an investigation into reported criminal sexual conduct reported by a child under 13, the AAPD report shows Fayroian and Bossory handed over the same 38 letters to the police. In effect, Fayroian made the letters, dozens of which which named a minor who had reported sexual abuse to an AAPD forensic investigator, part of yet another public case file.
In her written opinion, Judge Van den Bergh pointed out that “while Michigan case law on sealing records is limited, courts elsewhere have permitted sealing in cases where the moving party establishes that sealing the records is necessary to safeguard a child’s interest. However, even in such circumstances, courts have ruled that sealing must be narrowly tailored.”
While Fayroian and his lawyer tried to get another Trial Court judge to ignore rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court and the First Amendment, in her opinion Judge Van den Bergh recognized the First Amendment’s protection of public interesting reporting.
“…[G]iven the recent publication of a news story in The Ann Arbor Independent and the Plaintiff’s position and employment as the principal of Greenhills schools, at which he oversees the education of multiple children, there is a public interest in this case which includes an allegation of sexual abuse against a minor child. While the Court notes these allegations have not been substantiated…the public still has an interest in the investigation and determination of these claims in the domestic matter.”
In an email, Greenhills Board Chair Neda Ryan was asked: “Ms. Ryan, since the minor who reported the abuse was a student at your school, can you explain how, in your communication to parents, you entreated people to respect the family’s privacy? Can you explain, as Chair, why a Board member wrote a letter of reference discrediting your student’s reported sexual abuse at the hands of your principal? Is it Greenhills’ policy to ignore, minimize and discredit CSC allegations by students? In the AAPD report, there are also allegations of spousal abuse. Even in the NFL, players are placed on leave over such allegations, but not at your school? Does Mr. Fayroian’s contract have a morals clause?”
Neda Ryan, a 2003 graduate of Greenhills, has not yet responded to any of the newspaper’s questions.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.