LAWSUIT
Not, mind you, that this will change anything. School districts will still perform their own "in house investigations" and ignore mandatory reporting laws that require them to notify police or child welfare agencies when they suspect abuse.
September 9, 2008 - A teacher wants claims against her in a federal lawsuit filed by the girl's family to be dismissed. Her attorney argues that she did not cause the harm when the 14-year-old girl was raped in a stairwell at the school in February, and did not have a constitutional duty to protect the girl from bodily harm because she did not work for the school district directly.
Esther von Waldow, formerly known as Esther Haguel, was hired to work in Upper St. Clair High School's special education program. The district said it contracted with von Waldow through Wesley Institute.
The lawsuit, filed June 30, claims the unnamed girl told von Waldow in January that a male student forced her to perform sex acts on and off campus. That month, the same boy was placed on three days' in-school suspension for inappropriate sexual behavior toward two other girls.---------------------
In February, the boy was arrested on charges of raping three girls -- including the plaintiff -- over a four-day period.
In yesterday's filing, von Waldow claims she warned school officials and sought better protection for the girl, including supervised walks to the bus.
"One is left to question what more would or should be required of an independent contractor employee than to promptly notify the officials and individual defendants on whom (the plaintiff's) safety depended," defense attorney Samuel Braver wrote. "(von Waldow) is the only individual defendant who took any action to notify school officials."
tt - Previously, the school district, in asking for dismissal of the federal lawsuit, claimed the teacher was the only one who knew about the previous assaults on other students.
In court papers filed Tuesday, lawyers for the district and its employees said only one teacher -- an independent contractor employed by Wesley Institute -- knew about reports of previous assaults; therefore, the district should be freed of responsibility.The lawsuit claims the girl told teacher Esther Haguel, now known as Esther VonWaldow, that the boy assaulted her on two previous occasions. Both the girl and her alleged attacker were in special-education classes.
"There are no allegations that the individual defendants, excepting defendant Esther Haguel, were personally involved in any of the alleged conduct," lawyer Anthony Sanchez wrote, adding that the student who sued failed to show "she was injured by a known but uncorrected custom of reckless indifference to her constitutional rights."
Five girls were attacked by the boy, the lawsuit claims, and at least three of them reported the incidents to school officials before the February attack. The lawsuit states that the boy was placed on three days' in-school suspension after two girls reported inappropriate behavior where he was required him to write notes of apology to them while serving the in-school suspension.
She and her parents contend that Ms. Haguel engaged the victims in discussions about the assaults -- trying to alter their understanding of them -- making Jane Doe feel "very uncomfortable."
The lawsuit accuses the district and staff of failing to contact police after each report of sexual assault, as is required by law.
July 3 - The Pittsburgh Gazette interviewed a 16-year-old girl who was also victimized by the boy. She said she asked school officials to notify police more than a month before at least three of her classmates were raped in a stairwell and hallway at school. That was in December. She notified her emotional support teacher at the school, Esther Haguel, that the boy had been aggressively pushing her up against the wall and fondling her nearly every day since late October.
After talking to Ms. Haguel, she told her parents, and Ms. Haguel took her to talk to the school's assistant principals, Jace Palmer and Louis Angelo. He was given the in-house suspension.
