Blair et al. v. Moreno Valley School District

DOLLAR AMOUNT: $135 million

CASE NAME: Blair et al. v. Moreno Valley School District

TYPE OF CASE: Personal injury, negligence - sexual molestation by teacher

COURT: Orange County Superior Court

JUDGE(S): Judge Chad W. Firetag

PLAINTIFF LAWYERS: Panish Shea Ravipudi LLP, Spencer R. Lucas, Brian J. Panish, Matthew G. Freeman, Diana R. Panish:

DEFENSE LAWYERS: McCune & Harber LLP, Dana J. McCune, Dominic A. Quiller, David Guillen:

The most powerful evidence in the trial against a school district for steadily employing a sexual predator as a teacher was the testimony of the two 38-year-old men he first molested when they were in his sixth-grade class in 1996, their attorneys said.

"It was so emotionally powerful that it was hard for every single person in the room to keep a dry eye. They just let the truth come out on how terribly harmed they have been since age 11, having their childhoods taken away from them and how it still affects them every single day," said Spencer Lucas, who represented one of the men.

"You could just see it in their faces and in their emotions, how much they'd suffered and how much they continue to suffer now, 27 years later," said Brian Panish, who represented the other. Blair v. Moreno Valley Unified School District, CVRI2102718 (Riv. Super. Ct., filed June 7, 2021).

The teacher, Thomas Lee West, is serving a 52-year prison sentence. He was "a master manipulator" who molested young Brady Blair and Justin McGregor hundreds of times from 1996 to 2001, Lucas said, even moving in with McGregor and his divorced mother.

BRIAN J. PANISH

The district first received a complaint about West from a student in 1988 but did nothing, Lucas said. He continued to teach in 1991 even as he was serving a jail sentence on weekends for child endangerment over molesting a boy he was fostering. When his teaching credential was later suspended, his principal and other teachers vouched for him with the state.

Defense experts also provided important evidence during the 14-day trial. A trial "many times can be won or lost in expert depositions," Lucas said.

The psychologist the defense hired "confirmed that both of the plaintiffs have depression, anxiety, symptoms of PTSD, and that they have struggled throughout the entirety of their lives and virtually all aspects of life," he said.

The defense liability expert admitted in his deposition that the school district's conduct fell below the standard of care.

"The two experts that were designated by the district and deposed helped the plaintiffs' case because they were honest," Lucas said. "And the defense did not call them as witnesses."

MATTHEW G. FREEMAN

The district denied liability throughout the litigation until the trial started, he said. The first thing the defense attorney said in the opening statement was that the district took responsibility and realized it should have fired West when his teaching credential was revoked, according to Lucas.

But, the district did dispute causation, continuing to blame the boys' parents. "They were just strategically admitting negligence."

The defense also offered no evidence on damages. "The damages were so overwhelming and so heart-wrenching that even the defense expert had to acknowledge it," Lucas said.

The jury returned its verdict on Oct. 10 after deliberating for just four hours. It awarded $55 million in noneconomic damages to Blair and $80 million to McGregor. It apportioned 90% of the fault to the district and just 10% to West. A hearing on posttrial motions was set for Feb. 16.

The attorneys for the district did not respond to a request to comment on the case.

DIANA R. PANISH

-- Don DeBenedictis