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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A tentative settlement reached earlier this year in a lawsuit brought against Los Angeles Unified on behalf of a teenager who alleged a teacher at an East Los Angeles high school molested him in 2017-18 has not been finalized by the Board of Education, and so discovery will proceed as before, attorneys have informed a judge.
During a hearing Monday, attorneys told Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Christopher K. Lui that they want to resume depositions in the case. Lui scheduled trial for next Sept. 5.
The plaintiff, now 20, is identified only as G.L in the complaint, which was filed in July 2019 and alleges sexual harassment, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
In 2018, the district released a statement after the arrest of the teacher, Gina Murry, which stated the allegations against her were "disturbing and undermine our continuing efforts to provide a secure learning environment for all of our students."
In their court papers, LAUSD attorneys state that the district had no notice of Murry's "dangerous propensity to harm students."
Murry, a co-defendant in the suit along with the LAUSD, worked at the East Los Angeles Renaissance Academy at Esteban E. Torres High School. Then 34, she pleaded no contest in November 2019 to one count each of lewd acts upon a child and oral copulation of a person under 16. She was sentenced two months later to two years in prison.
The lawsuit alleges Murry abused the plaintiff from August 2017 until June 2018 beginning when he was 15 years old. According to the complaint, the school principal placed the plaintiff under Murry's supervision after he was bullied by peers during his freshman year. She groomed him by giving him special treatment by buying him gifts and playing video games with him, the suit alleges.
During an overnight field trip to a local university, Murry sexually abused the plaintiff in her personal vehicle and in a tent she shared with him, according to the complaint, which also alleges Murry molested the teen on multiple other occasions, often on school grounds and at school-sanctioned events.