Daniel Dworakowski (AP)
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A Manhattan teen says his life at a posh Upper West Side prep school was turned into a nightmare by a cruel bully — and now he’s suing both the school and his alleged former tormenter for $1.5 million.
Eric Giray, now 19, claims classmate Daniel Dworakowski bullied him relentlessly at the elite Calhoun School and pushed him down the bleachers in 2004, when they were both 12, according to a filing in Manhattan Supreme Court yesterday.
The fall left him with “serious bodily injuries,” including a broken nose as well as “emotional and physical distress,” the suit says.
“To this day, he doesn’t sleep well and has problems with anxiety,” said his lawyer, Ric Cherwin.
The suit charges the school with negligence, “failure to protect students” and “a failure to mandate anti-bully rules and regulations.”
“Calhoun was advised on several occasions by plaintiff’s mother of repeated bullying of her son and took no action,” the papers say.
“There were a series of incidents with [Dworakowski], who was part of a group of kids who were bulliers and were bullying several kids,” Cherwin said, adding that Dworakowski would “taunt” and “threaten” Giray.
The bullying was so bad that the ace student started saying “he didn’t want to go to school because he was afraid,” Cherwin said. Giray’s mom, Ayse, said she reached out to Daniel’s mother, but the peeved parent blew her off and complained to the school about having been contacted.
Giray’s mom twice sent e-mails to the principal and was told, “We’ll take care of it. Don’t worry,” Cherwin said.
The incessant teasing, however, didn’t stop and culminated in Giray “being pushed down the bleachers by defendant,” the suit says. Giray’s mother claimed Dworakowski wasn’t disciplined because the school considered the fall the result of horseplay.
Giray eventually transferred to a public school to get away from the bullying, the lawyer said. He now attends Brandeis University.
When reached for comment, Dworakowski said he felt “blindsided” by the “frivolous” suit and insisted he’s no bully.
“It was all innocent kid stuff,” he said, adding that he and Giray had been “really good friends” but Giray was incredibly sensitive.
Dworakowski said the bleacher incident happened during an organized game of tag when he accidentally crashed into Giray.
“The gym teacher deemed it an accident,” he said, adding that he apologized and bought Giray a video game to show how sorry he was. “He said it was all right,” Dworakowski said.
Dworakowski also left the school, going to Bronx Science HS, where he was named The Post’s All-City volleyball player of the year in 2010. He is now a sophomore at Cornell.
Calhoun declined comment yesterday.
Additional reporting by Gillian Kleiman