The father of a 5-year-old Sidwell Friends School student has filed a $10 million suit against the school for allegedly allowing its staff psychologist to carry on an affair with his wife.

In court filings, Arthur Newmyer claims he and his daughter suffered "severe emotional distress" when then-school psychologist James Huntington carried on a lengthy affair with his wife, Tara Newmyer. Huntington was treating Newmyer's daughter at the time, and the suit alleges that the girl was routinely present when he and Tara Newmyer would meet to spend time together.

Arthur Newmyer is accusing Sidwell of being aware of the affair and doing "nothing to stop it." The lawsuit, posted below (warning, it contains extremely graphic language), is based mostly on a large volume of e-mails Huntington sent Tara Newmyer from his Sidwell e-mail address over the course of their affair. In one of the more outlandish examples, Huntington appears to joke about contemplating mentioning his sexual desire for Tara Newmyer while in a private professional session with her young daughter. 

One other potentially salacious tidbit to come out of the suit, as the Examiner points out: Huntington, who has since been dismissed from the school, taught sexual education to sixth-graders in 2009-2010, the same year that President Obama's daughter Malia was in the sixth-grade at Sidwell.

Sidwell Lawsuit

It's a strange case to be sure. Do you think it's fair to sue a school because one of its employees has an affair with the mother of a student? Does it change things if he's treating the student?

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