Natalie L. Weatherford

MANHATTAN BEACH - Natalie L. Weatherford is a partner at Taylor & Ring, a personal injury firm. There, she focuses on plaintiff-side sexual abuse cases. The #MeToo movement has influenced her practice in two ways.

"It used to be that stereotypical rape cases were a perpetrator jumping out of the bushes, and the question was, 'Why didn't the victim say no or scream?'" Weatherford said. "Now more people understand that victims are often groomed and manipulated."

"The second thing is that people are aware that cases can be brought in civil court and can bring in lots of money. I actually appreciate the skepticism because I'm very careful about the cases I take and I want to be able to prove them under the law."

In March 2022, a San Jose jury awarded $102.5 million to two female former Dartmouth Middle School students who had been sexually abused by Samuel Neipp, a music teacher. The evidence showed that Weatherford's client, known as Jane Doe #2, had been abused by Neipp for three years with no intervention from school administrators, although they had witnessed the teacher and victim alone together on multiple occasions and had received several complaints about Neipp from parents. Neipp is currently serving a 52-year prison sentence. Weatherford's client received $37 million. Doe #2 v. Union School District et al., 19CV343101 (S. Clara Co. Super. Ct., filed Feb. 11, 2019).

"The case should have never gone to trial because the liability was overwhelming," Weatherford said. "The administration looked the other way. Early on, another girl showed her mother text messages from Neipp that creeped her out, but the administration thought they were fine. Even today, they're not taking it seriously, even though the judge post-trial did not touch the amount of the award or grant a new trial. Instead, they're appealing."

Weatherford said that's typical. "In most of the cases I have, schools fail to take care of the kids entrusted to them."

Jane Doe #2 is currently going to medical school but hasn't healed, Weatherford said, and the verdict isn't much help. "It's rape money, and it doesn't make her feel good. The abuse has consumed her childhood and young adult years."

Weatherford is prepping for an October trial on behalf of another Jane Doe client, the alleged sexual abuse victim of a high school track coach in Calabasas, Steven Smith. "The school hired him pretty much straight out of prison in Illinois on drug and weapons offenses. He even checked yes on a box for felon on his application. They can't explain why. It's mind-blowing." Doe v. Las Virgenes Unified School District et al., 20STCV28615 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed July 29, 2020).

Could the case settle? "For the victim's sake, a good settlement saves her from the trauma of a trial. But if not, this is a great one to take to a jury," Weatherford said.