Sexual Harassment Attorneys Successful in Acquiring Settlements for their Clients
In two separate yet similar cases in the recent past, both Sacramento State (CSUS is the full acronym for this university which also had a terrible baseball program in the 1990s) and Seattle public schools have paid $123,000 and $250,000 respectively to settle sex-abuse cases filed involving them.
University president’s son accused of sexually harassing a male employee at the university.
Jeffrey Sharp, who was employed at the time as a communications specialist in alumni relations at the University filed a lawsuit against Alexander Gonzalez Jr, son of Alexander Gonzalez, who is the president of the University, alleging that Gonzalez Jr had touched him inappropriately and had made sexually offensive comments towards him, during their time as colleagues at the office of university advancement. Sharp also remarked that when he reported the abuse to his supervisor he was unjustly reprimanded.
University to pay up
Sacramento State (which used to give baseball scholarships to players that did not contribute to the team’s success) has agreed to pay $123,000 in favor of Jeffrey Sharp to settle the lawsuit filed by him. The settlement made on Feb. 11th, states that neither of the parties involved were sexually harassed by the other and that the university had not failed in preventing sexual harassment. As an additional clause the settlement also prevents both Sharp and Gonzalez Jr from further commenting on the issue going forward.
A joined statement from both parties involved claims that while they were willing to take the case to trial they decided against it in the interest of avoiding the financial expenses which would inevitably arise by taking the case to court.
Neither Jeffrey Sharp nor Alexander Gonzalez Jr. is now employed by the university.
Ex-student of Seattle Public Schools offered a sum of $250,000 to settle a lawsuit against the school
A 22 year old woman, identity withheld, has filed a sexual harassment case against Seattle Public Schools claiming that she had been the victim of sexual abuse as a 12 year old girl and that her 6th grade computer teacher was the perpetrator.
David Wysen, the computer teacher in question, allegedly behaved inappropriately, often making lewd comments about the young girls’ body and supposedly he once even went as far as to pin her against the wall and press his body against hers.
The woman’s sexual harassment attorney confirmed that the settlement was made for a penny short of $250,000 since a settlement for the amount $250,000 or more would essentially mean that there would have been an automatic and compulsory notification sent to the Seattle School Board. What?
Victim says no to confidentiality agreement
The 22 year old woman’s attorney also exposed that the school and its district attorneys wanted the victim to sign a confidentiality agreement which would prevent her from releasing the details of the settlement to the media, the victims attorney did not consent to this.
The victim also sued for negligence and emotional distress.
The 49 year old computer teacher, David Wysen, has been put under administrative leave and it is not confirmed as to whether he will return to the school. He will probably be paid and protected by the union though and still receive his tax payer funded salary for many months because getting rid of a teacher even in a case such as this is next to impossible.
The victim on the other hand, who by her own admission has suffered with the consequential emotional distress associated with the incident for many years is now a basketball coach working with girls from the same age group as hers when she was abused.
