WWPS settles sex abuse civil suit
By Terry Murry on Friday, August 27th, 2021 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
WALLA WALLA – A Tacoma-based law firm has accepted a judgment offer of more than $333,000 for two plaintiffs in a sexual abuse lawsuit against Walla Walla Public Schools. The law office of Pfau Cochran Vertetis Amala represented both the abuse survivor, who was a student in the district, as well as her mother.
The lawsuit alleged that between 2015 and 2016, the student, who was only 12 years old at the time, was sexually harassed and abused by her school’s band teacher. As the teacher’s employer, PCVA claims the district should have known that he was a sexual predator and that the risk to students was significant. In fact, the law firm further claimed the district allegedly received complaints from students regarding the teacher’s predatory behavior but did not take proper action. Because of the school district’s failure to protect its own students from this sexual predator, the plaintiff suffered abuse and resulting damages according to the suit.
Although the district conducted an investigation in 2008 following complaints of sexually predatory behavior from several mothers and young girls, it did not terminate the teacher. Instead, it concluded the allegations were unsubstantiated and allowed him to retain his position.
In a statement released Wednesday, PCVA stated, “Hopefully by holding Walla Walla Public Schools accountable, the district will take proper action in the future to protect students, preventing others from having to suffer the same abuse as the plaintiff.” The lawsuit against the district over allegations of sexual misconduct had been scheduled to go to trial Feb. 15, 2022. Because the former band teacher has not been criminally charged Elkhorn Media Group did not name the individual in this report.
