By Brandon Ortiz
bortiz@herald-leader.com
A class action lawsuit accusing the Fayette County Board of Education of being indifferent to sex abuse allegations in the 1970s and 1980s has become public.
Plaintiff attorneys involved in the case said it relies heavily on testimony in Carol Lynne Maner’s high-profile sex abuse lawsuit, which led to a $3.7 million jury verdict last summer. (A judge later increased the verdict to $3.9 million.)
Some elements of the lawsuit are also intertwined with the Micro-City Government scandal, attorneys said.
Ron Berry, a longtime director of the jobs program for disadvantaged youths, was convicted of 12 counts of sodomy in 2002. Lawsuits have accused former city officials of ignoring the abuse for decades for political reasons.
Attorney Gayle Slaughter, who represents plaintiffs in the Berry and school board lawsuits, said some of the plaintiffs in the school board lawsuit were introduced to teachers by Berry.
The lawsuit was initially filed in Fayette Circuit Court. It was transferred to U.S. District Court in July.
The lawsuit names five plaintiffs who attended Winburn Middle School, Lexington Junior High School and Dunbar Junior High School in the early 1970s and mid-1980s.
It also seeks to represent all Fayette County students who were sexually abused from 1972 to 2007. That is at least 43 people, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit does not detail the plaintiffs’ abuse allegations. A federal judge has ordered the plaintiff attorneys to file a detailed listing of the allegations this week.
Attorney Chuck Arnold, who also represents the plaintiffs, said they came forward after Maner’s high-profile trial.
The lawsuit is based on deposition testimony by former Superintendent Guy S. Potts. He testified that he “probably” received one complaint of sexual abuse a month in the 1970s, but he added that he “could not attest to that,” according to court records.
Arnold, who also represents Maner, says the school board in that era had a policy of ignoring sexual abuse. He claims that the board destroyed records of sex abuse allegations several years ago.
He also alleges that Potts had a policy of not reporting suspected abuse to authorities, as required by law.
The statute of limitations for sex abuse lawsuits of this nature is one year. Arnold says that the plaintiffs can proceed with their lawsuits because the board effectively concealed the sex abuse allegations by not reporting them, an argument he made in Maner’s lawsuit.
A jury in her case found that the school board had ignored Maner’s allegations of sex abuse by six employees at Beaumont Junior High School and Lafayette High School in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
A school board spokeswoman referred questions to its attorney, Larry Deener.
Deener declined to comment Wednesday.
In Maner’s lawsuit, the school board argued that it vigorously investigated all allegations of sex abuse. It claimed that it was not aware of any alleged abuse of Maner.
Maner’s case is pending before the Kentucky Court of Appeals. The school board says the lawsuit is barred by the statute of limitations.
If the board succeeds in its appeal, the class action lawsuit will probably be dismissed on the same grounds, Arnold conceded.
I totally understand the feeling of the old students that went through this horrable experience…(I was sexually abused) but the school systems don’t have enough money as it is for the annual budget and for people to sue for these big amounts of money is crazy!! I currently have 2 kids in the school system here and personal you are attempting to take money away from the current students for something that happened YEARS ago. I have dealt with my past without millions of dollars and so can you!
I was sexually abused too and for that very reason is why this school district needs to be sued. They could have stopped it but they chose to cover it up “for political reasons” not caring what was happening to the students in their charge. Kids have to go to school. The very least the administrators should do is keep them safe. How would you feel if it was your own child? Forget about it! That’s exactly what they hoped would happen. don;t blame the victim as usual!
I bet you wouldnt feel this way if it was you or your kids that were exploited by the Fayette County School System. These type of lawsuits dont in any way effect the funds that go into the school. The school system has insurance for claims such as these. Now a guilty verdict w/ payout might make insurance go up and that could possibly come from the students but nevertheless, these people who do and hide these types of abuse need to be exposed and school systems should pay for not doing a durn thing to protect children from employees that molest children. Instead of being sick of those who sue …how about being sick of these animals walking free and the people who hire them not being held accountable. Remember money talks bullsh** walks. That is why they should pay….if they have to pay the big payout….you can guarantee they will act when these type of allegations come about again.
I keep reading about this case in the newspaper and am wondering, how long does it take for someone to receive their award? If the amount of the award was decided upon last year, what’s the apparent hold up? This is sooooo typical when it comes to victims rights. The Criminal Justice System is called that for a reason…the criminal is the only one that has any rights when it comes to those who victimize others.
My husband and I are fighting with the Garrard County School District right now because our 5 year old daughter was recently violated on a school bus which the superintendent has admitted in writing was “out of control”. He’s now claiming that we’re just being trouble-makers.
I mirror exactly what “Are you kidding me?” said; “They could have stopped it but they chose to cover it up “for political reasons” not caring what was happening to the students in their charge. Kids have to go to school. The very least the administrators should do is keep them safe.”.
That is EXACTLY what our contention is. We are speaking at the Board Meeting Tuesday night, Oct 14 at Camp Dick Robinson Elementary School in Lancaster. PLEASE, PLEASE - you can help promote change in our schools by coming and listening to what’s going on in our schools. We’ve invited the press to be there too as well as high ranking state officals. So PLEASE come and help us to make a stand to make our schools safer in Kentucky.