Jury Awards $700,000 in Punitive Damages
Making the grand total of compensatory and punitive damages awarded to the Doe family just above $9 million.
ESD Board Chairman John Eagle said he disagreed with the verdict.
“The verdict was wrong,” he said.
Statement from Episcopal School of Dallas
(DALLAS, September 21, 2011) – Attorneys representing the Episcopal School of Dallas said a jury’s ruling against the school is fraught with errors and will be appealed.
“The jury did not hear all the testimony; an excellent institution was deprived of its day in court,” said Chrysta Castañeda, lead ESD attorney. “The jury did not hear the strongest evidence in support of ESD, and I will urge my client to seek justice in the Court of Appeals,” Castañeda added.
The jury found that ESD was largely not liable for the inappropriate student/teacher relationship, but did award damages because of the separation of the former student from ESD.
“I don’t blame the jury,” said Castañeda. “They made decisions based on what they heard, not on what they didn’t hear. As an example, they did not hear testimony from the plaintiff’s best friend, who bravely told an empty jury box about the circumstances that led to the separation, which the plaintiff denied on the stand. In addition, the court remarkably refused to allow rebuttal testimony from ESD regarding the last-minute surprise testimony presented by the plaintiffs which had nothing to do with the facts in this case; that’s an astonishing ruling in this kind of proceeding.”
“You will hear differently,” said John Eagle, ESD Board Chairman, “but there are no winners in this case; it’s been extremely difficult for our community. I have already talked to our Executive Committee and the insurance company. This will be appealed, and it will be resolved in the right way. We have a strong and resilient school community, and it’s one that is very supportive of the school’s decision-making process in this matter.
58 comments to "Jury Awards $700,000 in Punitive Damages"
I keep holding out hope that you would publically acknowledge ( a little) wrongdoing or just say nothing. Now it continues to appear like you are disingenuous all the way around.
and who are you, Mr. Stupid Much??, that seem to know how to run a school? Are you a school administrator? Do you run something? Are you even a parent at the school? Would you be brave enough to say who you are? or are you one of the many people that share strong opinions on this matter, hidden behind the anonymity that this forum provides… Just sayin’
As a side note – what a fascinating trial involving lots of powerful women – the lawyers for both sides, the judge, all the jurors, and the news reporter!
John Eagle, said after the trial, “The verdict of the jury was wrong. … It’s unfortunate that ESD never got the opportunity to put on their case.”
Quit wasting time on the trial/appeal. Start spending time on rebuilding the school. First step – fire Swann. Second step – remove yourself from the board.
Admit that ESD lost the trial, let the insurance company pay, and eat the deductible. Swann built a great school, which will be even better when he is gone.
I want to know if you lie on an insurance policy yearly questionaire about any knowledge of improper sexual encounters in the past, does that make the policy null in void? Is that fraud? More ammo for the plaintiffs defense of the appeal process. Be careful what you wish for.
Just curious, will Father Swann switch from White wine at lunch to Bourbon? I suggest Bourbon, I was pre med
you are in denial.
you are enablers.
this is so sad that you would defend (even in light of this crippling verdict) Swann, et al.
such a horrible example to your children.
keep it up..they’re reading every word.
Father Swann was not able to explain anything to the jury thanks to that stupid bias judge so the jury got it wrong but If they had gotten to hear him I don’t think the Does would have won anything at all. ESD will win the appeal.
ESD expelled Doe. They did it for her but they wanted her gone too and who can blame them. This is ESD’s big crime? They expelled her and were not nice enough about it?
I think the school has been too nice to the Does. I think they should consider suing the Does or at least file a complaint. Doe mom knew what was going on and did nothing.
Also Jane is no victim. [REDACTED]
Please post the trial transcript online on your site..along with the relevant pleadings. With the Lemaster spin machine, the parents deserve to see who was caught in lies and how the ESD cabal acquitted themselves in front of the jury.
The Court of Appeals are all elected…i think there will be some hesitation on their part to prop up the criminality and the lies of the ESD faculty, staff and board leaders. They do not live in a vacuum.
I deeply appreciate all the blogs and updates, and I came here first to read about the verdict.
While there really are no winners in this case, the great coverage you all have provided was a huge help to the community.
Expelling that child is simply indefensible. It boggles my mind that they continue to maintain otherwise.
I am familiar with the dynamic between JDII, Campbell and the other kids. [REDACTED]
BUT — you.do.not.get.to.expel.her. You work with the family over a period of time to transition her smoothly somewhere else. You say “Parents, here is what we are seeing and hearing. What are you observing? We would like to see our school therapist intimately involved with handling this situation – how can we make that happen? Here’s what we are thinking is probably best. What do you think about that? What might she think about that? Can we talk to her about it? Let’s get a game plan together over the next couple of weeks. Can we reconvene in three days?”
You.do.not.get.to.expel.her.
ESD is basically high and dry on insurance. Intentional and grossly negligent acts are typically not covered. I’d go into the further poor judgement surrounding this issue and the legal staffing but it would bore anyone but another lawyer.
I do love juries. They get it right the vast majority of the time, popular thinking to the contrary.
For members of the ESD community – faculty, staff, parents, students, and generous benefactors – please send your notes of thanks and appreciation to Joe Colonnetta, ESD’s Chairman of the Legal Committee. (This was a committee of TWO, based on court testimony and did not include a lawyer).
If you’re pleased with how this case was handled on ESD’s behalf, Joe would be thrilled to hear from you. He picked the legal advisors, Chrysta Castaneda at Locke Lord and the esteemed Senator Royce West. Presumably, it was Joe’s decision not to settle this case long ago.
Joe has been rewarded for his brilliant work handling this sad chapter in ESD’s history with the Vice Chairmanship of the Board. That’s right. He was recently named to that position. And that means he’s in line to be the new BOARD CHAIRMAN. Let’s see how he does in his role selecting the new headmaster.
Not sure how to reach Joe. He left his investment banking firm, HM Capital (formerly Hicks Muse) recently to go out on his own. Hope he does a better job in this new endeavor than his management of this tragic chapter in ESD’s history.
Please, please, please, look up the words bias and biased and learn to use them properly.
After the school was made aware of the assault, they SHOULD have allowed the student to stay if she so desired, and offered therapeutic services to her and her family as well other support they could offer. Instead, they expelled her, denying her this support and implying that she was in some way to blame. ESD talks a lot about “community” but this does not illustrate the idea in the least. Very disappointing.
And yes, the ruling may affect students and faculty who are not guilty of anything, which isn’t fair, but that is the way it is. Regardless, ESD is still an excellent learning institution, but it is difficult to trust them when they value their reputation over the welfare of their students.
Are you referring to the transcripts from today? Or the whole trial?
Who does this surprise?
“nothing to see here folks, now please donate more and your sins will be resolved…burp!”
Quote from D Magazine (Nov 2010 issue)-Wick Allison:
Judge Benson ranked 145th out of 145 judges in the 2009 Judicial Evaluation Poll conducted by the Dallas Bar Association. Her overall performance approval came in at 17 percent. Only 21 percent of lawyers thought their clients could get an impartial hearing in her court.
How else can you explain why Judge Benson declared 14 of ESD’s student witnesses “incompetent” to testify. Their testimony was at the heart of why the school asked Jane to leave. But the jury was not given the opportunity to hear their testimony. Is that a fair trial?
What are you talking about? “Father Swann was not able to explain anything to the jury thanks to that stupid bias judge”? Seriously? He was called to the stand 5 different times because of his ever-changing testimony.
And, BTW, it’s “biased” not “bias.”
I have no respect for the Doe family. They are feeding their daughter lies by making her think that nothing she did was wrong and by using her actions to suck all the green they possibly can out of ESD. The only reason they sued ESD was because they knew they couldn’t get anything if they sued the teacher.
The people who are in the most wrong here are, Jane Doe, her parents, and the teacher. Definitely not ESD as an institution. Even if they had not kicked her out, why would she want to stay anyway? she would have been a complete social outcast.
ESD will appeal, and they will win.
http://www.dmagazine.com/Home/D_Magazine/2011/October/Episcopal_School_of_Dallas_Sex_Scandal.aspx?page 1
Our courts exist for a reason, and one of those is to teach people a lesson that society doesn’t tolerate certain things. I submit that many of you should rethink your positions on so called “tort reform”, which is really an unconstitutional denial of people’s full access to Justice.
As an outsider looking in who has followed this trial, I see this as a victory for ESD. The court HAS ruled that ESD was not negligent in protecting it’s students… #1 priority folks! And Jane Doe’s patents through the financial judgement seemed to get the retribution they were seeking.
Now we know there are no true winners here. But I do feel better that the school was vindicated. And if financial punitive damages make the Doe family feel vindicated then good for them.
$9 million or $100 million wouldn’t have made me drag my child through a trial this. Without knowing all of the facts, it did seem like an isolated incident and we are not talking about a serial predator like in the Kenakuk case. Of course it’s wrong, but c’mon Doe’s… Take it up with Mr. Campbell.
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If this girl was SO horrible, why did your most popular teacher target her?
As to the Doe family, they were having problems, just like all people do at some point. That doesn’t fit the perfect ESD image.
In…I don’t know how I feel legalistically about Ms. Doe’s removal from ESD… But If I were the parents of her friend, Mary, or any other student for that fact, I would be mad as hell if I sent my child to school, boy or girl, and my child came home with salacious first hand details about a student’s affair with a teacher. That’s just wrong. Does my child have a right do sue someone… People… Where does it end?
I’m sorry that Mr. Campbell turned out to be a creep. I’m sorry that Ms. Doe, at age 16, was so naive that she didn’t see that she had a hand in this whole mess. And I’m most sorry that our community has to see, yet once again, parents blaming others for their children’s behavior.
ESD will persevere… Changes will be made… And that’s good.
Mr. Campbell will be punished.., and that’s good.
The Doe’s will have their settlement after the appeal… And I guess in their distorted world that’s good for them.
But, I pity Ms. Doe. Lots of baggage and misguided. That’s not good.
About Jane being a victim, by definition she was. I understand those who know her and judge her on her actions and her reputation, but at the end of the day, by definition of the law Campbell was committing a crime.
Campbell knew it at the time and he knew it years before! You don’t have to be in law enforcement or a lawyer to know the term “jail bait”. It’s in the movies and on tv.
It’s also common knowledge, without special training, to know that having a sexual relationship with a student, no matter how vigilant she is at enticing him, is wrong. It is common knowledge that if you have a sexual relationship with someone outside your marriage, it is wrong.
Come on, with ESD being a “church school” and one of very high standards in education and reputation, it’s hard for me to understand why Campbell wasn’t fired immediately.
The actions of the administration suggest that they were covering up more than this situation.
I wonder if there is something behind the way they handled the Does as well. Father Swann’s attitude on the stand in court and his way of responding to the questioning is suspicious.
I do feel bad for John Eagle and the entire board of ESD. I belie e they are as in the dark about this mess as we are! Don’t you know they regret agreeing to sitting on the ESD board once the law suit was filed!!!
Not an ” isolated incident”. Did you read the testimony? There were 3 incidents that we know of, but by the way parents and children are threatened with expulsion, how many others just kept their mouths shut for fear of their kids being ostracized? It’s so easy, and I regret to say shallow, to say it’s all about money and what you would or wouldn’t do in the same circumstance. I think the feelings of betrayal ( by Fr.Swann) after the shock of the details of a daughter being a participant, followed by the handling of it would have pushed many a parent to pursue whatever justice they could. And if you studied up on victims of sexual abuse you would learn that acknowledgement and facing your abuser ( and his/her enablers) is one of the keys to recovery.
Too many people are focusing on the employee and his relationship with the girl. Yet, the jury found no negligence there, so stop beating up on the school for failing to supervise the teacher or protect the student from harm. That’s not the question.
Since the jury found no negligence on the part of the school for failing to prevent statutory rape, we need to treat this matter as if the school were expelling a student for falling behind in grades or being disorderly. What is the industry standard for expelling such a student? What is the duty to expel a student in a certain manner from a school where there is an at will relationship? Who establishes that standard? Does a school have a duty to provide counseling to any of its students who are wounded, not as a result of the any act of negligence of the school? What if a step father had abused the child and the child started acting up in school? Is the school a hospital or psychiatric center? Do we really expect schools to go that far? Why should we expect a school to be a psychiatric center when it is not licessned to deliver psychiatric services?
Clearly, this relationship was not a secret, and I suppose the real issue is whether the teacher will face consequences for sexual exploitation at the criminal trial.
As a private school parent, I’ll say that I would be FURIOUS if my donated and hard fund-raised dollars went to pay for this trial or an appeal. When ESD loses that phase, and owes the Does legal bills, what will they do next…put out a contract hit on JD2? They couldn’t do much more to rip apart a teenage rape victim. Unbelievable.
I’m seeing the Facebook chatter…so many learning, life, and character lessons are being missed by ESD. That is really, really sad.
Imagine the conversations for kids with college recruiters – “Oh, you go to ESD?” or imagine the countless sporting events that kids from other schools will only use this whole fiasco for fodder. Is this really what we want for the kids and ESD?
I guess ESD won’t be satisfied until 20/20 or 60 minutes comes knocking on the door with cameras.