Lawsuits Allege Gilroy School District Failed To Protect Students From Sexual Harassment
GILROY (CBS) -- Two lawsuits filed Wednesday allege the Gilroy Unified School District failed to stop a former teacher from harassing students under his supervision.
Los Angeles-based attorney Gloria Allred filed the suits in Santa Clara County Superior Court on behalf of two former students against the district and Douglas Le, a 25-year-old man who was once a science teacher, tutor and athletics coach at Gilroy High School.
One of the former students was 15 years old when he was verbally, mentally and sexually harassed by Le from 2013 to April, according to the complaint.
Le allegedly issued "F" grades to certain students who "triggered his pedophilic tendencies" and made them attend after school tutoring sessions, when he continued the harassment, the complaint alleges.
Le also allegedly posed as a female on Facebook and in messages asked the male student for graphic photos of himself, according to the complaint.
As a result of Le's actions, the students experienced emotional, physical and psychological issues, Allred said.
"A major goal of our lawsuits is to impose policy and practice changes on the district to make sure that this never happens again," Allred said.
The suit alleges the district was aware that Le had exhibited illegal, sexually related conduct in the past with juveniles at the school, Allred said.
The suits allege negligence, negligent supervision, negligent retention, intentional infliction of emotional distress, sexual harassment and gender violence. They seek damages that would be determined at trial.
The lawsuits come more than a month after Allred filed a complaint that accused the district of failing to protect students from Le, who sent a 15-year-old girl inappropriate text messages that led her to leave the school.
Allred filed last month's complaint for the girl and her mother, Celest Benn, who along with others had previously spoken up against Le to the district.
"When any parent entrusts a child to a school, the last thing a parent would expect would be for the school district to ignore a warning that a teacher posed a danger to children," Benn said in a statement Wednesday.
Despite the accusations, the district allowed Le to continue working with students who he verbally, physically and sexually harassed, according to Allred.
The district didn't stop Le, inform parents of the teacher's behavior or increase supervision on him, Allred said.
The attorney said she is in contact with other alleged victims who may file lawsuits against Le.
In late April, Le was arrested at his San Jose home on suspicion of felony child enticement for taking on a female persona and persuading children to send him illicit images over the internet, police said.
Le resigned from the district days after his arrest and the alleged "catfishing" which took place at private homes on personal computers, district officials said last month.
In an email Wednesday, district spokeswoman Rachel Zlotziver said the district hasn't seen the lawsuits and couldn't immediately provide a comment.
