The Visalia Unified Faculty District’s public board assembly in March was a festive and upbeat affair with a efficiency by a scholar chamber music group and a commendation for a highschool cheer squad.
When the seven-member board went into closed session, the agenda was decidedly grimmer: Six former college students have been suing the district over sexual abuse they mentioned they suffered many years earlier by the hands of a kindergarten trainer.
Out of public view, the board unanimously accepted a $3-million settlement with provisions supposed to maintain the neighborhood at midnight endlessly.
Below the phrases of the settlement, the ladies, their attorneys and households have been prohibited from disclosing any side of the deal, together with the quantity they have been paid.
“The Events agree that they may reply to any inquiries they could obtain from any third events relating to the lawsuit by stating solely that ‘the matter has been resolved’ with none additional elaboration, dialogue or disclosure,” the settlement instructed.
It was Visalia’s fifth secret settlement within the final three years, certainly one of a flurry that districts are quietly approving statewide.
A Occasions investigation discovered that California’s public faculties, confronted with a historic surge of intercourse abuse lawsuits, are more and more utilizing nondisclosure agreements and different techniques that celebrities and massive firms rely on to guard their repute.
Not less than 25 districts have resolved fits or different claims in ways in which hinder taxpayers from studying concerning the allegations, the price of settling them or each, The Occasions discovered. These hidden settlements whole greater than $53 million. Authorized consultants say that these settlements could also be in violation of state legislation, and that some must be investigated by the state legal professional basic.
Whereas shielding the names and private particulars of intercourse abuse victims is extensively accepted, courts have repeatedly mentioned the general public has a proper to know allegations leveled in opposition to authorities workers and the cash spent to compensate accusers.
Lawmakers in California have additionally largely banned the usage of confidentiality provisions for settlements involving sexual assault and harassment, on the assumption that transparency helps victims heal and results in public accountability.
“There’s very important issues with authorities companies appearing like personal firms and requesting or insisting on these sorts of nondisclosure or non-disparagement clauses in settlement agreements,” mentioned David Loy, authorized director of the First Modification Coalition, primarily based in San Rafael. “As a result of on the finish of the day, the federal government works for the folks and the folks have a really compelling curiosity in figuring out about claims and allegations of misconduct.”
California’s college districts at the moment are grappling with a deluge of intercourse abuse circumstances ensuing from a 2019 legislation that modified the statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse and created a brand new window — from 2020 to 2022 — during which anybody may file a lawsuit for previous alleged abuse.
The Occasions recognized greater than 1,000 lawsuits in opposition to college districts filed since 2020, with greater than 750 filed because of the new legislation. Some lawsuits allege abuse way back to the Nineteen Fifties. Most circumstances are nonetheless making their manner by means of the courts, however greater than 330 have settled for roughly $700 million, with $435 million paid out for claims associated to the brand new legislation. The state tasks that native training companies will finally pay out between $2 billion and $3 billion as soon as circumstances work by means of the court docket system. A lot of that is going down outdoors the general public eye.
Intercourse abuse circumstances in opposition to California college districts
The Occasions reached out to greater than 930 college districts in California and submitted public data requests looking for details about all sexual misconduct fits and claims filed in opposition to districts and copies of settlement agreements for all sexual misconduct fits since Jan. 1, 2020. Click on on the broaden icon to see particulars for settled circumstances together with court docket paperwork and settlement agreements.
Case data is updated as of March 1, 2025, though some circumstances might have since settled and usually are not mirrored. Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified Faculty District refused to show over any data. Los Angeles Unified solely supplied a listing of AB218 circumstances as of June 2024, and settlements executed by means of January 2025.
See one thing lacking or incorrect? Contact matt.hamilton@latimes.com.
Gabrielle LaMarr LeMeeLOS ANGELES TIMES
In Visalia, confidentiality clauses negotiated by district attorneys acknowledged the general public’s proper to acquire the knowledge — after which tried to verify they by no means would. 4 agreements particularly barred former college students receiving secret payouts from “straight or not directly” encouraging others to file a request below the state Public Information Act — the strategy The Occasions used to evaluation copies of agreements referenced on this story.
A spokesperson for Visalia Unified declined an interview request, and the college district didn’t reply written questions.
Anaheim Union Excessive Faculty District paid three males, who mentioned they’d been abused by a junior excessive trainer, $3.3 million in 2023.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Occasions)
A number of districts tried to forestall allegations from changing into public by paying off accusers earlier than they filed lawsuits that might have detailed the claims of intercourse abuse for anybody to see.
Anaheim Union Excessive Faculty District paid a trio of males who mentioned they’d been abused by a junior excessive trainer $3.3 million in 2023 after their legal professional despatched the district a draft of a lawsuit he mentioned he was ready to file in Superior Courtroom.
The phrases of the payout two years in the past required that the boys and their attorneys “not search publicity referring to the info and circumstances giving rise” to their claims, and certainly, the settlements haven’t been beforehand reported.
John Bautista, a spokesperson for Anaheim Union, mentioned in a press release that the district and its insurer settled the draft lawsuits after going by means of discovery in a associated case and “didn’t need to incur further bills of submitting a lawsuit.”
“Nothing within the settlement would forestall the claimant/plaintiff from talking with the press regarding the info of the case if the press contacted [them],” Bautista mentioned.
Not less than one district paid an accuser earlier than something was put in writing, data present. Victor Elementary Faculty District within the excessive desert negotiated a $350,000 settlement with one former scholar after his lawyer relayed abuse allegations in a telephone name. Requested by The Occasions for a doc describing the claimed misconduct, a district official mentioned no such data existed.
Some districts counsel the confidentiality restrictions are wanted to keep away from a “snowball impact” of additional litigation.
San Diego Unified, hit by greater than a dozen lawsuits over alleged intercourse abuse since 2020, has settled 4 for a complete of $2.44 million, every with a confidentiality clause that, at a minimal, prevents the accuser or her lawyer from disclosing the settlement quantity. One of many settlements blocks the accuser from discussing the matter with anybody besides her lawyer or monetary advisor or in response to a subpoena.
San Diego officers acknowledged that confidentiality is finally restricted — the paperwork could be disclosed through public data requests — however the district proceeded with pursuing restrictions on the accusers and their representatives.
“The aim is to maintain plaintiffs’ attorneys from utilizing these settlements as advertising instruments,” mentioned James Canning, a spokesman for San Diego Unified.
Former state Sen. Connie Leyva, seen right here whereas within the Legislature in 2019, mentioned she was greatly surprised by college districts utilizing confidentiality provisions. “That sounds unlawful,” Leyva mentioned.
(Wealthy Pedroncelli / Related Press)
Efforts to curb the usage of secret settlements gained momentum within the Eighties, with rising public consciousness of how confidentiality agreements had saved the general public at midnight about environmental or well being hazards, similar to asbestos.
In 2016, California prohibited settlement agreements that block the disclosure of factual details about sexual abuse or any intercourse offense that might be prosecuted as a felony.
Within the wake of the #MeToo motion, lawmakers in 2018 handed the STAND Act, which prohibits nondisclosure agreements in sexual harassment, discrimination and different sexual assault circumstances that don’t rise to felony prosecution. Three years later, the Silenced No Extra Act widened the prohibition on nondisclosure agreements to incorporate any harassment case. The legislation nonetheless provides victims the choice to guard their id.
The lead sponsor of each payments, former state Sen. Connie Leyva, mentioned she was greatly surprised by college districts utilizing confidentiality provisions.
“That sounds unlawful,” mentioned Leyva, now the manager director of public radio and TV station KVCR. “We didn’t communicate particularly about youngsters or about faculties, nevertheless it shouldn’t be taking place.” She added, “Our invoice was meant to use to everybody all over the place.”
A number of settlement agreements obtained by The Occasions included caveats by stating they have been “confidential to the extent allowed by legislation,” or contained related carve-outs. Consultants mentioned such provisos nonetheless have the impact of muzzling a sufferer’s speech and hindering public accountability.
“Whereas it’s attainable that these work-arounds don’t violate the letter of the STAND Act, they definitely violate its spirit,” mentioned Nora Freeman Engstrom, a professor at Stanford Legislation Faculty, who co-authored a examine on the impact of the STAND Act in L.A. courts.
Southern Kern Unified Faculty District agreed to pay $600,000 to a former scholar who alleged intercourse abuse and included an acknowledgment of the STAND Act within the settlement. Nonetheless, the settlement bars the previous scholar, Corey Neufer, from “actively” publicizing the deal.
Reached by telephone, Neufer mentioned that though he intentionally selected to sue below his personal title, reasonably than as John Doe, he was instructed that the confidentiality provision was commonplace and needed for the ultimate settlement.
“That was one of many stipulations — that I don’t discuss it or give any particulars,” mentioned Neufer, who indicated the confidentiality was far broader than the textual content of his settlement suggests. “My lawyer instructed me to not discuss concerning the case.”
The STAND Act permits for plaintiffs or claimants to place language in a settlement settlement that shields their id and disclosure of any info that might result in their id. Nonetheless, if a public official or authorities company — similar to a college district — is a part of the settlement, that language can’t be included.
Of the handfuls of settlements reviewed by The Occasions, two particularly famous that the accuser wished confidentiality to defend their id.
A number of had restrictions that appeared to exceed the STAND Act, similar to a 2024 settlement for $787,500 paid by Ceres Unified to a custodian who mentioned she was sexually harassed by a colleague. The signed settlement states that the settlement, its phrases and any perception that the district or its workers engaged in illegal habits have been all confidential. If requested, the custodian may solely say, “The matter has been resolved.”
David Viss, an assistant superintendent at Ceres Unified, mentioned in an e-mail that the settlement complied with the legislation: “We consider the settlement settlement is per the STAND Act.”
The overwhelming majority of intercourse abuse circumstances filed in opposition to college districts attain a settlement. For districts, a settlement could be cheaper than mounting a authorized protection by means of a jury trial, and in contrast to a panel of jurors, a settlement offers a stage of fiscal certainty. At instances, the choice to settle is pushed much less by college board members than an insurance coverage firm or legal responsibility protection supplier.
John Manly, whose legislation agency makes a speciality of childhood intercourse abuse, mentioned college districts and their insurance coverage suppliers ceaselessly ask for confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses when negotiating a payout.
Lawyer John Manly, seen at his legislation workplaces in Irvine in 2023, has represented intercourse abuse survivors for greater than 20 years. He says that confidentiality agreements “profit one individual, which is the perpetrator, and people who allow them.”
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Occasions)
“We get these requests on a regular basis, and we decline,” Manly mentioned. “Confidentiality agreements profit one individual, which is the perpetrator, and people who allow them.”
At Los Angeles Unified Faculty District, scores of individuals accused former San Fernando Excessive Faculty wrestling coach Terry Gillard of abuse. In 2022, LAUSD agreed to pay 23 accusers a complete of $52 million to settle molestation and abuse claims — a settlement negotiated by Manly’s legislation agency.
A 12 months later, LAUSD agreed to pay three different girls who alleged abuse by Gillard a complete of $7.5 million.
Though these represented by Manly’s crew didn’t have a confidentiality or non-disparagement settlement of their settlement, LAUSD sought an intensive confidentiality settlement for the payout to the three different girls, curbing dialogue of the settlement and underlying abuse claims.
That settlement barred their lawyer from making any form of assertion — or encouraging others to make a press release — concerning the compensation deal, and barred feedback that might “defame, disparage or in any manner criticize” LAUSD, its workers and leaders.
Solely the ladies, their lawyer, “rapid household” and “tax skilled” may know concerning the settlement, based on the settlement.
“If requested concerning the standing of this dispute, plaintiffs counsel might solely state, ‘they’ve voluntarily and absolutely resolved their claims in opposition to the Los Angeles Unified Faculty District,’ or phrases to that impact,” declares the settlement settlement.
The lawyer for the ladies, Anthony DeMarco, didn’t reply to messages looking for remark.
Manly mentioned the State Bar of California ought to examine attorneys on each side who comply with language that they know conflicts with state legislation. And he known as on Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta to analyze college districts that proceed to lock victims into such restrictive agreements.
“It’s fallacious. It’s dangerous for the neighborhood and it’s dangerous for the sufferer. The attorneys that do it — protection and plaintiff — must be ashamed of themselves.”
L.A. Unified, which has added confidentiality provisions in at the very least seven settlements since 2020, defended its practices as a technique to amicably resolve litigation, based on a press release from a spokesperson.
“These settlement agreements preserve the settlement particulars, similar to the quantity, confidential. They don’t prohibit the disclosure of the info behind the claims,” the LAUSD spokesperson mentioned.
Some authorized consultants need Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta to analyze college districts that proceed to lock victims into restrictive nondisclosure agreements.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Occasions)
Whereas a number of districts use secrecy provisions in settlement agreements to cover the main points of intercourse abuse circumstances, others, like Visalia Unified, are also capable of preserve payouts quiet by approving them in closed session at common college board conferences.
In 2021, the president of the board of Wasco Union Excessive Faculty District obtained a letter from a lawyer primarily based in Iowa who represented a former Wasco scholar. The lawyer mentioned his shopper had been sexually abused practically a decade earlier by her former coach and trainer, and accused her then-principal, Kevin Tallon, amongst others, of not taking applicable steps when confronted with proof of abuse.
Tallon, now Wasco’s superintendent, was named as a defendant within the draft lawsuit, and the lawyer included a duplicate. He gave the district 14 enterprise days to reply.
“If I don’t hear again from you, I’ll proceed with the lawsuit,” wrote the lawyer, Thomas Burke.
The letter touched off a negotiation that culminated on the Wasco college board’s ultimate assembly of 2021. The assembly’s agenda for the closed session was circumspect: “Convention with Authorized Counsel — Settlement Settlement.” However behind closed doorways, the board voted 5 to 0 to approve a settlement, based on assembly minutes, making certain that there would in all probability by no means be a public airing of the allegations in opposition to the trainer or superintendent. The assembly minutes mirror solely {that a} settlement was accepted — not the quantity or nature of the abuse accusations. The district paid $475,000 within the settlement, a sum that The Occasions obtained through data request.
Tallon, the superintendent who was named within the draft lawsuit, declined an interview however supplied written responses to questions. He mentioned the district and its workers “fulfilled its duties diligently and with integrity,” and mentioned the settlement was accepted in a manner that adhered to the Brown Act, the state’s open assembly legislation.
“The settlement was not supposed to hide allegations; it was meant to responsibly restrict threat and convey closure to a delicate state of affairs,” Tallon mentioned within the assertion.
Authorized consultants agreed that Wasco’s college board complied with the Brown Act — thereby exposing that legislation’s limits and potential loopholes. Since the specter of litigation didn’t lead to a filed case or formal declare, the board may deal with it as “anticipated litigation” and talk about it in closed session, away from the general public. And since settlement gives — like every contract negotiation — usually are not ultimate till agreed upon, they too could be accepted in closed session, away from the general public.
Loy, the authorized director of the First Modification Coalition, mentioned the Brown Act might be amended to proactively require public companies to finally disclose the main points and quantities of settlements. Faculty districts, he added, may additionally choose to be extra open, with out being compelled to by state lawmakers.
“Companies owe an obligation to the general public to be extra proactive and extra clear, even than the naked minimal letter of the legislation would possibly permit them to get away with,” Loy mentioned.
The dearth of transparency additionally coincides with a disaster in native information, which has resulted in far much less protection of metropolis halls, courthouses and college boards from the Imperial Valley to the shores of Eureka.
At one time, newspapers large and small had reporters at college board conferences who in all probability would have seen settlements on the agenda and submitted data requests to disclose them.
With native media absent, companies have quietly accepted settlements in closed session, with no watchdog to suss out the underlying info.
“Diligent folks or reporters know to do this: Please give me copies of each settlement accepted this week or this month,” mentioned Loy, the First Modification Coalition’s authorized director. “However that requires an additional step.”
