Trial Magazine

Doe, 8, went to Mark Twain Elementary School in the Sacramento City Unified School District and also participated in the START program, which offered expanded learning and recreational activities to students after school. Over a two-year period, Joshua Vasquez, a lunch yard supervisor at the school and a START program leader hired by the city of Sacramento, sexually molested Doe on multiple occasions. The abuse took place in a classroom that Vasquez could access with a key.

As a result of the abuse, Doe requires therapy and is expected to require counseling and medication for life.

Doe sued the school district, the city, and the school principal, alleging liability for Vasquez’s abuse. The plaintiff asserted that the city failed to properly supervise Vasquez or train its employees on how to monitor fellow employees regarding behavior that could lead to sexual abuse.

Suit also alleged that the school district failed to train employees properly and that the principal failed to request a background check on Vasquez. Additionally, the plaintiff asserted, the principal ignored parent complaints about Vasquez, who provided treats to children and was allowed to have unfettered access to them.

The parties settled for $12.5 million.

Citation: Doe v. Sacramento City Unified Sch. Dist., No. 34-2016-00204753 (Cal. Super. Ct. Sacramento Cnty. March 13, 2019).

Plaintiff counsel: AAJ member Roger A. Dreyer, AAJ member Noemi Esparza, and Joseph George, all of Sacramento, Calif.