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A San Bernardino judge threw out two of 12 causes of action in a suit against Redlands Unified School District. The suit alleges former Redlands High School teacher and coach Michael Allen was a sexual predator.

The suit was brought by a female student born in 1991 who attended Redlands High School in 2005. She claims Allen harassed her while she was a freshman in her class. She is able to bring the suit now due to 2019’s Assembly Bill 281, which extended the statute of limitations for childhood sexual assault.

“It is disappointing that Redlands Unified continues to go after victims legitimately airing their rights to recovery for abuse,” wrote Morgan Stewart, the woman’s attorney.

Neither the school district nor their attorney has yet responded to our request for comment. Michael Allen, who is representing himself, could not be reached.

The suit says Allen assaulted other students, and was investigated by Redlands High School. The suit says the school had clear knowledge that Allen was acting sexually inappropriately with minor females, but that the school did not report him to law enforcement, remove him from the school or recognize his grooming behavior.

Further, the Redlands Unified School District hides and destroys evidence and threatens victims, the suit claims.

The suit brought charges of negligence; negligent supervision; negligent hiring and retention; negligent failure to warn, train or educate; intentional infliction of emotional distress; assault; sexual battery; sexual harassment; gender violence; sexual abuse and harassment in the educational environment; breach of fiduciary duty; and constructive fraud. It names both the school district and Allen as defendants.

Dismissals

The school district asked San Bernardino Superior Judge Gilbert Ochoa to throw out five of the woman’s claims. He responded by throwing out two: the claims for sexual harassment and breach of fiduciary duty.

Ochoa ruled that a school district can not be litigated for sexual harassment due to the sexual harassment of a student by a teacher, because teachers are given wide authority to instruct students. The abuse of that authority by a teacher who sexually harasses does not extend to make a school liable for sexual harassment, Ochoa ruled.

“Furthermore, a school district cannot be held vicariously liable for the sexual abuse/harassment of a student by a teacher because the authority conferred on teachers to carry out their instructional duties and the abuse of that authority to indulge in sexual misconduct is too attenuated to deem a sexual assault something within the range of risks allocated to the teacher’s employer,” Ochoa wrote.

Ochoa also found that there is no fiduciary, or monetary, relationship between a public school and its student, according to case precedent.

Challenged claims

Ochoa denied the district’s request to throw out the claims for negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress and sexual abuse and harassment in the educational environment.

The judge found that the district could be held liable for the assault under a theory of negligent hiring. He found that the intentional infliction of emotional distress charge stands, specifically because of the allegations that the district destroyed evidence and dissuaded students from talking to the police or the press. 

Case No. CIVSB2215901

Morgan Stewart and Saul Wolf of Irvine’s Manly, Stewart & Finaldi represent the former student.

Randall Winet of Vista’s Winet Patrick Gayer Creighton & Hanes represents the school district.

Allen represents himself.

Read the complaint here.

Read the ruling here.

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