San Jose Unified School District To Pay $2 Million To Settle Ex-Teacher's Sex Abuse Lawsuit
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) -- The San Jose Unified School District will pay $2 million to settle a lawsuit from a woman who was sexually abused by her teacher at Pioneer High School when she was 17-years-old, her attorneys announced Thursday.
Ricardo Chavarria taught Spanish at the school in the city's Almaden Valley neighborhood. He was arrested in January 2019 at the school during class hours after a staff member at the school called to report him. He was later convicted of six counts of sexually assaulting the student in his classroom between October 2018 and January 2019.
The lawsuit alleges that while Chavarria was grooming the student and sexually abusing her, the school district did little to properly investigate or supervise Chavarria, failing to take "reasonable measures to prevent sexual harassment, molestation and abuse of minors."
The district immediately placed Chavarria on unpaid leave following his arrest. However, the lawsuit claims school officials ignored "multiple red flags" that could have prevented the abuse.
Chavarria was hired by the San Jose Unified School District in August 2001
"The very substantial settlement in this case testifies to the immense harm done to our client and the failure of the San Jose Unified School District to protect her from the criminal acts of a dangerous sexual predator," said the victim's attorney, Cristina Nolan in a prepared statement. "There is a heavy price to pay for failing to protect children from sexual predators. My client hopes this settlement convinces San Jose Unified to do better, and keep their students safe."
In response to the settlement, San Jose Unified School District issued a statement:
San José Unified does not comment on the specifics of legal matters. In all cases, we expect our employees to be professional and ethical in their interactions with students, other employees, and the community. We commend those that come forward to report unacceptable behavior. When we learn of a violation of our standards, we respond immediately and hold the individual accountable in collaboration with the proper authorities.