INDIANAPOLIS — Four former North Central High School students have filed a lawsuit against the district alleging a now former school employee engaged in sexual harassment, grooming and verbal abuse toward students from 2015 to 2020.
The lawsuit was filed in the Southern District Court of Indiana against the Metropolitan School District of Washington Township Schools, its board and four of its employees. It also claims the school board failed to perform a proper background check on the employee, and members of the faculty ignored complaints about his inappropriate behavior.
The complaint alleges the employee would take students into a closet and force them to reenact traumatic experiences while sometimes touching them inappropriately. The employee is also accused of calling female students derogatory statements.
The employee, who was involved in the school's theater department, would allegedly choose plays with sexual undertones and have students act out sexual scenes alone and with each other.
Students behind the suit allege the school employee would share details about his sex life and ask students intimate questions about theirs.
“The school district and its Board allowed [the employee] and North Central staff members to prey on and ignore students – a complete failure of their responsibilities to these children,” said Michelle Simpson Tuegel, one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys. “A simple background check would have shown that [the employee] was a serial predator and harasser, and that alone would have saved countless students from the horrific abuse and harassment they endured at the hands of someone they should have been able to trust.”
The lawsuit alleges school workers were aware of allegations against the employee for years before his position with the district ended. It claims the employee had even been suspended in 2018 due to a rumor of a sexual relationship with one of the former students now suing. The lawsuit said the school conducted a minimal investigation, and the employee was allowed to return to his role.
The suit claims the employee had claims of harassment made against him at two other Indiana schools and that Washington Township Schools Board failed to adequately check his background before hiring him.
“Our educational system should provide safe spaces in which young people can flourish, but instead of finding that at North Central High School, these young women faced sexual harassment, discrimination, and abuse,” said Jeff Gibson, an attorney representing plaintiffs. “Through this lawsuit, we intend to hold the responsible parties accountable for their complete disregard for student safety and equality.”
The former students' suit claims the employee created a hostile learning environment for the students and breached Title IX's guarantee of equal access to educational benefits to the students. The damages they are seeking include compensatory damages, court costs, and pre- and post-judgment interest.
Washington Township Schools response
The school district said the accused former employee was fired after the district learned he made false statements in his job application. The district said the false statements concealed his resignation from a previous school due to allegations of inappropriate interactions with students.
The district said it also contacted law enforcement, the Indiana Department of Child Services and the Indiana Department of Education. As a result, the former employee is no longer licensed to teach in Indiana. The district is also taking legal action against the former employee, but it did not define what the action was.
The school district told 13News, it made changes to its hiring practices to require a more thorough review of candidates. It said those changes came before it learned of the former students' complaint. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Education has recently updated Title IX harassment reporting guidance.