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An elite private institution in Los Angeles finds itself embroiled in controversy following a lawsuit accusing three water polo players, one of whom is the prominent son of a renowned film director, of racially and sexually harassing a teammate over several years.
The civil suit, initiated by Aidan Romain, a former minor and water polo athlete at the prestigious Harvard-Westlake School, claims he endured continuous racial and sexual abuse from his peers.
The lawsuit specifically names Lucca Van Der Woude, alongside the school, its president Richard B. Commons, and the head of the boys’ water polo program, Jack Glover. Lucca is the son of Thomas “Basti” Van Der Woude, a notable Hollywood assistant director known for his work on series like “Fear the Walking Dead,” “Westworld,” and the recent hit “Ballard.”
Harvard-Westlake School, located in Coldwater Canyon, Studio City, California, on Thursday, July 13, 2023. (Dean Musgrove/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images)
Lucca Van Der Woude, considered a promising Olympic contender, was once a highly sought-after recruit for UCLA’s prestigious water polo team. While his current recruitment status remains uncertain, the allegations outlined in the lawsuit paint a disturbing picture of his conduct.
“From August 2022 until February 2024, Plaintiff Aidan Romain (then a minor) was sexually assaulted, harassed, and humiliated primarily by three Harvard-Westlake water polo teammates – often in the presence of Harvard-Westlake agents and employees,” the lawsuit begins.
The lawsuit says that in 2022, Romain was the only freshman to make the varsity water polo team at Harvard-Westlake, but that abuse at the hands of Van Der Woude began during his very first practice, when the defendant allegedly “digitally penetrated” him underwater.
“The abuse was not spontaneous. It was part of a years-long culture in which violence and humiliation were normalized and facilitated through the school’s coaching staff and administration,” the suit says. “At Harvard-Westlake, sexualized misconduct was treated as ritual, and silence was the price of inclusion. Speaking out was betrayal and survival meant staying quiet.”
Harvard-Westlake School in Coldwater Canyon in Studio City, CA, on Thursday, July 13, 2023. (Dean Musgrove/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images)
According to the lawsuit, Romain was also subject to use of the N-word consistently.
In another “disturbing display of racism,” Van Der Woude and another teammate who is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit allegedly “began whipping Plaintiff with a rope and then an elastic band, making references to slavery as they demanded that Plaintiff ‘get back to work!’ while striking Plaintiff.”
Van Der Woude was arrested in 2024 and later admitted in juvenile court to “‘sexual penetration with a foreign object (digital penetration) against a minor’ as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors,” according to the suit. In February 2025, he was ordered to pay $50,000 in restitution to Romain.
The suit claims Harvard-Westlake, which costs $54,900 to attend, knew of the abuse, but failed to act.
The Weddington Golf & Tennis club is set to close permanently months after Harvard-Westlake officials announced the school was buying the facility from the Weddington family, on Aug. 2, 2019. (David Crane/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images)
Romain now reportedly lives in Barcelona, where he continues to train.
“It was very difficult on a daily basis to deal with the racial abuse and the sexual abuse,” he told ABC7 in March.
Fox News Digital reached out to Van Der Woude’s attorney and Harvard-Westlake for comment.
Harvard-Westlake previously denied the allegations.