Lawsuit claims posh school defrauded doctor

A posh private school in Lake County is accused in a lawsuit of improperly keeping nearly $59,000 in tuition when a father withdrew his children's enrollment for the 2010-11 academic year.

Dr. Peter Blendonohy contends Lake Forest Country Day School purposely did not release the most recent achievement test scores for his three children before he paid the bill during the summer. The suit states Blendonohy sought the refund after he learned the results, but did not list a specific problem.

“It was defendant's plan, design and scheme to defraud the plaintiff,” says the lawsuit filed Oct. 13 in Lake County circuit court on behalf of Blendonohy by his attorney, John K. Kneafsey of Chicago.

Blendonohy seeks a return of the $58,765 he paid for the tuition plus punitive damages and court costs.

Lake Forest Country Day's head of school, Michael Robinson, did not return messages seeking comment.

Established in 1888, the school serving children from age 2 to eighth grade reports enrollment from 34 suburbs.

In the lawsuit, the school is accused of receiving the Educational Records Bureau test results for Blendonohy's three children before June 1. The New York-based company provides testing programs and consulting to independent and public schools across the United States.

Knowing the scores would have influenced Blendonohy's decision to enroll the students for the 2010-11 academic year, the suit alleges, Lake Forest Country Day withheld the “important information” before he paid the $58,765 tab in the summer.

Blendonohy, a Lake Forest resident who's rehabilitation director at Resurrection Medical Center in Chicago, received the achievement test results after paying the bill. The lawsuit contends he relied on the school to be truthful and not conceal the scores to his detriment.

Kneafsey declined to elaborate on what was considered to be the problem with the test scores when contacted Tuesday.

Along with common-law fraud, court documents state Lake Forest Country Day committed willful and wanton misconduct by entering into the enrollment contract with Blendonohy.

Lake Forest Country Day lists its average full-day tuition at $19,292 and has more than 470 students at its Green Bay Road campus.

Typical class size is roughly 12 pupils.