RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A fourth lawsuit has been filed against the Richmond Ballet since 2023 from a former student alleging emotional and physical abuse, with the plaintiff saying the exploitation began when she was nine years old.
First reported by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the complaint, seeking $11.5 million, was filed on Tuesday, March 17, by an anonymous former student filing as “Jane Doe,” who reportedly enrolled in one of the company’s training programs around 2019. She has accused the company itself, as well as several specific staff members, of physical, emotional and psychological abuse that has resulted in permanent injuries.
Throughout her time in the program, the former student alleged that she lost a dangerous amount of weight — at 13 years old, she allegedly weighed just 91 pounds — as a result of encouragement from Richmond Ballet staff to participate in excessive exercise and shame surrounding gaining weight…