$88M Settlement in LA Schools Sexual Misconduct Cases

By Taylor & Ring | July 13, 2017

The Los Angeles Unified School District has agreed to an $88 million settlement for damages stemming from sexual misconduct cases on two school campuses. The second largest settlement in the district’s history includes numerous claims involving 30 innocent children and their heartbroken families.

The LA Times reports that these incidents came to light just as District officials agreed to settle civil actions involving sexual misconduct at Miramonte Elementary, located south of downtown LA. In response to that incident, the school system announced a number of reforms geared toward preventing abuse and misconduct toward students. Among those improvements, the District announced that it would:

  • Improve documentation and retention of complaints against school employees
  • Create a special investigations unit to conduct independent complaint reviews
  • Provide better training for the identification and reporting of suspected abuse

Unfortunately, pending changes provided no protection for 18 students from De La Torre Elementary and 12 students from Telfair Elementary.  In both of these cases, school officials received numerous complaints about the offending teachers. Allegations included inappropriate touching, kissing of students, and taking students on unauthorized field trips. According to court documents, school officials did nothing to investigate the allegations or to protect the students from continuous harm.

Advocating for students and families across Southern California

Unfortunately, this type of egregious behavior is not new within the LA Unified School District. Far too many children have fallen victim to the inexcusable actions of teachers and school officials. Schools have a legal duty to adequately vet potential school employees, and thoroughly investigate complaints of inappropriate behavior. When officials fail to meet these minimal standards, students are placed in dangerous situations, opening the door to potential abuse and sexual assault.

Securing a financial award from a school system is no easy task. California imposes timing and procedural requirements for filing official complaints against government entities. Failure to adequately follow these guidelines can permanently bar families from ever seeking compensation for injuries suffered by a child at the hands of a school employee. Successful representation in these cases also requires substantial time and resources to fully investigate the actions of the school, as well as all responsible parties.

The skilled Los Angeles child sexual abuse attorneys of Taylor & Ring have the time and resources to aggressively pursue compensation from school districts. We have successfully handled numerous cases involving sexual abuse by school officials. Let us put our experience to work for your family. Contact us today at 310-776-6390 or complete our contact form.

Posted in Sexual Abuse