$102.5M awarded in abuse case
Jury finds administrators failed to keep ex-teacher from sexually exploiting two
A civil jury has awarded $102.5 million to two women who sued the Union School District, accusing administrators of failing to stop a middle school teacher who sexually exploited them when they were minors.
The massive award of damages — one of the largest from a school-neglect lawsuit in county history — was reached Tuesday in Santa Clara County Superior Court. It will be shared between the two plaintiffs who reported being serially abused by former music teacher Samuel Neipp in two separate periods spanning 2009 and 2014.
One plaintiff, identified in court as Jane Doe 1, was awarded $65 million, and the other, identified as Jane Doe 2, was awarded $37.5 million.
Neipp pleaded no contest in 2019 to a dozen criminal charges related to the sexual abuse. He is now serving a 56-year prison sentence in Kern County.
“It is an incredible outcome and the jury really recognized the lifelong harm and impact that sexual abuse has on a child, especially a middle schooler at that important developmental age,” said Natalie Weatherford, an attorney at Los Angeles-based Taylor and Ring, who represented Doe 2. “She blamed herself in ways for what happened to her. The verdict from the jury represents a conclusion that tells her this is not her fault and people failed to protect her.”
Lauren Cerri, an attorney at San Josebased Corsiglia, McMahon and Allard who represented Doe 1, said this week's verdict “shows that our community won't put up with this and won't tolerate a school district that puts the reputation and image of a school over the safety of
“Our sympathies and concern go out to the young women who were abused by Mr. Neipp. His actions were despicable. He violated the trust of his students, colleagues, and our community.” — Superintendent Carrie Andrews
children from this lifelong harm.”
“Parents who complained year after year that he's a predator, they didn't do a thing and should have fired him years before,” Cerri said. “This verdict holds them fully accountable and says this should have never happened and was so easily preventable.”
The lawyers said in a statement that the district had promoted Neipp and granted him tenure — naming him Teacher of the Year at one time — even after learning of “inappropriate” text messages he had sent to a student.
The verdict split the liability between the school district and Neipp. In Doe 1's case, the jury assigned 80% fault to the school district and 20% to Neipp; in Doe 2's case, the jury found the district was 55% at fault and Neipp was 45% at fault. Those percentages mean the district could be liable for as much as $52 million for Doe 1 and $20.6 million for Doe 2.
But those sums are not concrete and a judge ultimately has discretion over the final amount.
Wednesday, Superintendent Carrie Andrews — who took over the helm of the district last summer — said the district plans to appeal the jury award.
“Our sympathies and concern go out to the young women who were abused by Mr. Neipp. His actions were despicable. He violated the trust of his students, colleagues, and our community,” Andrews said in a statement to this news organization. “Sadly, the actions of one individual will have severe consequences for our school district. We are reviewing our options with legal counsel on how to move forward and the District will be appealing the jury award given this devastating decision.
“As the District's newest superintendent, I want our community to know that the safety of our students will always be our top priority.”
Neipp was arrested in 2017 after Doe 1 told police that he had threatened to post nude images of her online. She revealed that starting about 2014, when she attended Dartmouth Middle School, Neipp “texted her that he found her attractive” and spent time with her alone in his office, later engaging in sex acts with her. She also said Neipp continued to sexually abuse her as a high school student when she visited the Dartmouth campus.
After seeing news about Neipp's arrest, Doe 2 contacted police and reported that about 2009, Neipp began sending text messages and emails to her, regularly spending time alone with her in his classroom and arranged for her to be his classroom aide. She told investigators that Neipp began making sexually suggestive remarks, held her hand and kissed and touched her while they were alone together in his classroom. She also alleged that the abuse continued after she graduated and visited the middle school.
Both women sued the school district in early 2019 and alleged that administrators mishandled or downplayed his misconduct.
Their lawsuits, eventually consolidated into a single trial, asserted that district officials admonished Neipp but never formally punished him after learning of similar texts with another student, reportedly telling him in a letter that while his behavior was “inappropriate and did not show good judgment,” the matter was going to be kept confidential.
“Both of these young women are the true heroes in this story,” Cerri said. “They were put through the wringer and they stood up against it and knew what happened was wrong … hopefully this verdict evokes change.”