School Now Faces Threat of Punitive Damages
The family of a teenage girl who filed a lawsuit against Palisades Charter High School for sexual harassment by a teacher changed its legal complaint last week in L.A. Superior Court to seek additional damages. In an effort to invalidate a series of court losses unfavorable to the legal and financial protection of PaliHi’-and independent charter schools statewide, say legal experts-‘the school petitioned the United States Supreme Court in July. The nation’s highest court has not yet announced if it will hear the case, but that decision could come within a week. Each year, thousands of cases are sent to the Supreme Court in hopes of overturning lower court decisions. The court historically hears less than one percent of the cases submitted. The lawsuit against PaliHi was filed in June 2004 by Dr. Thomas Knapp, father of a then-13-year-old parochial student who alleged she was harassed by longtime teacher Ron Cummings during a visit to his history class in February while she was touring the school as a prospective student. The suit alleges that’-among other charges’-Cummings commented on her breasts, humiliated her religious background and unnecessarily interspersed a class lecture on European history with sexual innuendo. Knapp filed the suit after then-Principal Linda Hosford refused to follow Knapp’s demand that Cummings be fired. The California Supreme Court declined the school’s petition in March of this year, essentially making the decision of the Second Appellate District court into law. That decision stripped the school of its identity as a ‘public entity’ and redefined it as a ‘non-profit public-benefit corporation.’ The consequences of that seemingly minor change are now beginning to have significance: no longer a ‘public’ school, PaliHi loses protection from punitive damages as well as other legal and financial threats historically extended to public schools and their employees. The original suit demanded that the school pay Knapp $125,000, the estimated cost of four years of private-school tuition. But seizing on the school’s recently redefined legal identity, Knapp lawyer Ed Carney changed the suit last week to demand punitive damages in addition to the $125,000. The amount of those damages will be determined by a jury, Carney told the Palisadian-Post last week. He also defended his client’s effort to pursue more money from the school. ‘We didn’t want money,’ Carney said. ‘We wanted [Cummings] fired. If he had been fired, then [Knapp’s daughter] would have gone there. That would have been the end of the matter. The only redress we have is money.’ Following a complaint by Knapp, the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing issued a ‘public reproval’ of Cummings but did not revoke his teaching credential. PaliHi Executive Director Amy Held said Cummings still teaches at the school. Early last week, the Superior Court judge approved Knapp’s request to seek more damages. But the judge left the school the option of challenging it, Carney said. Held told the Post on Wednesday that she could not comment on pending litigation against the school. A trial date in Superior Court has not yet been set. That hearing would be postponed should the U.S. Supreme Court decide to hear the case, a legal analyst told the Post. —– To contact Staff Writer Max Taves, e-mail reporter@palipost.com or call (310) 454-1321 ext. 28.
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