An Upper West Side private school has lost a round in its legal battle with uptown socialite Michelle-Marie Heinemann, who alleges she was scammed into buying a kiddie painting for $50,000 in its school auction.
The Cathedral School of St. John the Divine asked a judge to throw out Heinemann’s suit, saying her claims that the school drove up bidding on a first-grade art project to $50,000, then stuck her with the bill, is, “frivolous,” “ridiculous” and a “clear abuse of the courts.”
But State Supreme Court Judge Eileen A. Rakower has rejected the school’s plea and ordered it to respond to breach of contract and fraudulent misrepresentation charges.
The brouhaha erupted this year when Heinemann and her husband, Jon, said they’d agreed to place a winning bid, in absentia, on the artwork for $3,000 after being told such an item would usually go for between $500 and $1,200. But they claimed a school administrator and a first-grade teacher schemed to drive bidding up.
The suit also alleged Heinemann’s son, Hudson, was “discriminated against” at the school, and was made to hold the door for other students and “go last at nearly everything.” As a result, the couple said their son was “forced” to leave the school and that they’re owed $415,900, including $60,000 they’d paid for a family driver.
In its bid to toss the case, Cathedral claimed the Heinemanns were never charged for the painting, and that “the school declared the auction invalid” after the incident and gave them the painting for free. The school also says Hudson was “voluntarily withdrawn.” A source said one of the staffers involved in the auction incident was fired, and another left.
A rep for the school said, “We will continue to challenge these sad and baseless allegations, which are without merit. The Heinemanns know what really happened.”
Heinemann, who’s also an artist and philanthropist, sold her 923 Fifth Ave. pad to Brazilian beer billionaire Carlos Alberto Sicupira, and is looking to move to a 74th Street townhouse.