Tamalpais School District ordered to pay $17.5 million in sexual abuse settlement
Dec 27, 2024
(KRON) – The Tamalpais Union High School District is ordered to pay $17.5 million to four individuals in a sexual abuse claims settlement, according to the Cerri, Boskovich & Allard law firm.
All four individuals were sexual assault victims by Tamalpais High School former tennis coach Normandie Burgos.
In 2019, Burgos was sentenced to 255 years in prison for 60 counts of child molestation involving two teen students.
Two years later, a Marin County jury found the school district liable for failing to protect A.H. (unidentified victim) from Burgos.
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According to Joe Doe 1, one of Burgos’s earliest victims, Burgos raped and sodomized him multiple times in the 1999 to 2000 school year. At the time of Doe’s abuse, Burgos was a probationary employee and not protected by tenure. Doe stated, under oath, that a school administrator witnessed Burgos engage in sexual misconduct with him. Doe stated that the administrator made a joke about the matter and did not intervene or report what they witnessed.
Two additional victims, John Doe 2 and John Doe 3, filed a lawsuit for the district's failure to prevent Burgos abuse in 2023. The two claimed they were sexually assaulted by way of Burgos performing “body fat tests” in the 2000-2001 school year.
According to the law firm, Burgos’ “body fat tests” consisted of him privately taking students into his office, having them lay on a massage table, removing clothing and abusing them.
Attorney Robert Allard said the tennis coach was “enabled and emboldened” to sexually abuse students. “Let’s hope that this District and others around the state learn that protecting students is more important than protecting their brethren teachers and coaches.”
Breakdown of the settlement allocation:
More than $1 million in interest due to the District unsuccessfully appealed the $10 million jury verdict
$11.5 million to A.H. (unidentified victim)
Doe 1 was one of Burgos’s earliest victims and will receive $4.5 million
Doe 2 and Doe 3 will each receive $750,000