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| Jury finds girls, parents liable for calling teacher 'perv' |
| 2013-11-18 |
| h/t instapundit Two years after San Jose schoolgirls branded a teacher as a "perv" and "creeper" who inappropriately touched kids and peeked into their restroom, a civil jury Friday found the children and their parents financially liable for defamation in a case that pitted the rights of the accused against the aim of reporting perceived abuse. The jury awarded $362,653 in compensatory damages to former Catholic school physical education teacher John Fischler after finding the families spread false statements about him that damaged his reputation. The 49-year-old broke into a huge smile Friday when he heard the favorable verdict, which his lawyer characterized as "complete vindication." Another sign of return to sanity? |
| Posted by:g(r)omgoru |
| #7 Still haven't learned from the McMartin pre school mess 20+ years ago. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2013-11-18 20:37 |
| #6 The problem with a charge like child molestation is that you are guilty until, and sometimes after, being proven innocent. People will probably still say "Well, he must have done something for the girls to accuse him." |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2013-11-18 17:53 |
| #5 Following the link this story sounds like it was written in hollywood... The unusual case began in 2011 when administrators at Holy Spirit school in Almaden Valley were told that teacher John Fischler had inappropriately touched their 10- and 11-year-old girls and peeked in a girls' bathroom. School officials and police cleared Fischler of sexual misconduct. But the teacher, claiming the ordeal had indelibly stained his reputation and ruined his teaching career, declined to return to what he called a poisonous atmosphere at work and filed a lawsuit seeking nearly $1 million in damages. The lawsuit contended he was the victim of a "conspiracy" by "classic parent bullies" and their daughters, including a popular girl he described as having a "gang-leader-like personality," to get him fired from the private Catholic school where he was an at-will employee. And continues... The demeanor of the "ringleader," now 14, appeared to have alienated the jury. She giggled often while testifying, and twice got off the witness stand, stood in front of the jury box and demonstrated a dance move and chant a school cheer. The jurors sat grim-faced without smiling. I don't suppose anyone got a video... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2013-11-18 17:26 |
| #4 This would bother me less if the opposite were also true -- but teachers are never liable no matter how poorly they act. |
| Posted by: Iblis 2013-11-18 15:17 |
| #3 Do you know how they go? |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2013-11-18 15:13 |
| #2 With a tiny little moustache... |
| Posted by: Raj 2013-11-18 11:29 |
| #1 Catholic Schoolgirls.... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2013-11-18 07:57 |