Trial Magazine

Eric Echols-Gollas was a paraeducator at Prairie Elementary School in California. While working in a classroom of eight-year-olds and in an afterschool program, he began touching three girls on the outside of their clothing—placing them on his lap and lifting them up with his hands on their legs and buttocks. Echols-Gollas was subsequently arrested, tried, and sentenced to prison.

The three girls, through their guardians, sued the Elk Grove Unified School District, alleging it failed to timely prevent and investigate the misconduct. The plaintiffs claimed that one or two of the girls had complained multiple times to a playground supervisor about the paraeducator’s behavior, but the supervisor failed to timely report their concerns. The plaintiffs also asserted that Echols-Gollas was allowed to place the children on his lap while sitting in the back of the classroom. Suit also alleged that the girls have been diagnosed as having post-traumatic stress disorder.

The jury awarded $1.65 million.

Citation: Doe v. Elk Grove Unified Sch. Dist., No. 2018-00224845 (Cal. Super. Ct. Sacramento Cnty. March 13, 2019).

Plaintiff counsel: AAJ member Stephen Estey and Mary Bajo, both of San Diego.

Plaintiff experts: Trudy Arriaga, education, Ventura, Calif; and Latoya Conner, psychiatry, Palo Alto, Calif.

Defense experts: Stan Katz, counseling, Beverly Hills, Calif.; and Ernest Anastos, standard of care, San Diego.