A new federal lawsuit filed in Brooklyn accuses the Family Foundation School, a costly boarding school in Hancock, New York, of years of brutal abuse against students. The school reportedly charged parents $80,000 a year and presented itself as a place for troubled teenagers, but the plaintiff says it functioned like a sadistic labor camp.
The unnamed former student says he attended from 2000 to 2003 and was one of many children recruited through deception. According to the complaint, parents were persuaded to transfer legal custody of their children to owners Michael and Cindy Argirios. The suit says the school was run by unlicensed staff, including self-described former alcoholics and sex addicts, with no clinical training or educational credentials.
The complaint alleges students were forced to work for the Argirios family’s direct financial benefit, including digging trenches on the family estate, shoveling snow, cleaning pigpens and livestock areas, doing construction at the owners’ private home, and cooking and cleaning for the family. It also accuses staff of invasive searches, group sexual workshops with teachers, and inhumane punishments such as being wrapped in rolled carpets taped shut, forced to eat vomit, or locked in closets for days without food, water, or bathroom access. Students who tried to run away were allegedly chased down by K9 attack dogs.
The plaintiff says music teacher Paul Geer sexually abused him during a choir trip to Toronto after forcing him into the school choir. When he reported the assault to Michael Argirios, he was allegedly punished with a work sanction instead of receiving help. The former student later testified against Geer in federal criminal court in 2024, leading to Geer’s conviction and a 27-year prison sentence in September. The lawsuit also claims Hancock police and local officials ignored abuse complaints because of the Argiruses’ influence in the community. The defendants have not commented publicly.
