Lauralton Hall is suing a New Canaan couple whose daughter chose not to go to the Catholic school.

The school wants Kelly and Doug Gervolino to pay more than $20,000 in tuition even though their daughter never went there and decided to attend a different Catholic school.

The lawsuit says that in the spring of 2018, the Gervolinos decided to enroll their daughter at Lauralton Hall for the following school year. As part of that, they put down a $1,000 non-refundable deposit to hold her spot.

The family had until June 30, 2018 to inform Lauralton if their daughter would not attend.

Kelly Gervolino says she missed the deadline after ending up in the hospital that month with meningitis and shingles. In mid-August, she informed the school her daughter would not be part of the freshman class.

"I just figured we had lost our deposit," said Kelly Gervolino. "That's fine, I missed the deadline. I was really sick, we had other things going on, sure, keep the thousand and we're moving on."

But this past January, nearly a year and a half later, she was hit with a lawsuit for that year's worth of tuition -- an amount totaling $20,557. The suit also asks for late fees of $1,850 and 15% of the school's legal fees.

The lawsuit says these numbers were listed in a contract signed by the family in 2018.
Kelly Gervolino says she understands why the school took legal action, but believes her circumstances should have been considered.

"That's what grace and compassion and understanding looks like, so I'd invite them to show up that way," said Kelly Gervolino.

Lauralton Hall's attorney had no comment on the pending suit.