Editor’s Note: Out of concern for the privacy of the plaintiff and his now 14-year-old daughter, MyNewsLA.com has chosen not to publish their names.
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles and a Glendale parish pastor are named in a lawsuit filed on behalf of a teenage girl who alleges that her complaint that she was being bullied by male students resulted in her being expelled earlier this year on false sexual misconduct allegations.
The father of the girl filed the lawsuit Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court. The defendants are the archdiocese, the Rev. James Michael Bevacqua of Holy Family Catholic Church and three employees of Holy Family Grade School: principal Fidela Suelto, vice principal Katherine Monahan Huntley and the girl’s eighth-grade teacher, Ashley Walden.
The suit’s allegations include breach of contract, defamation, negligence and both intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. The complaint seeks at least $500,000 in damages.
An archdiocese representative did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment.
The suit states that the girl had been a student at Holy Family from kindergarten until her Feb. 17 expulsion at age 13. She was an exemplary student who maintained a 4.0 grade point average and received consistent praise from teachers for her dedication and motivation, the suit states.
“There is nothing in (her) eighth grade report card to even suggest that she was a problem student or did not exhibit behavior and other qualities consistent with Catholic values,” the suit states. “In fact, (she) was a model student and her Spanish teacher had expressed her intention to nominate (her) for student of the year.”
The girl also was a member of the school’s academic decathlon team and captain of the cheerleading squad, the suit states.
But it was the girl’s academic achievements that fueled jealousy among fellow students and made her the target of bullying, which the school handbook prohibits, the suit states. Four days before being expelled, the child cried as she told Walden that “certain students were spreading the rumor that she had engaged in sex with boys” and the girl begged Walden to make the gossip stop, the suit states.
The girl’s father questioned her about the rumor and she “vehemently denied that there was any truth” to what the other students said, according to the lawsuit.
Suelto brought a group of students before her and told them they would not be able to go on the planned graduation trip to Disneyland unless that provided statements regarding what the girl had told her, the suit states.
“Apparently, Suelto was successful in coercing statements from some of the students,” the suit states. “This appears to be the extent of the investigation into (her) reporting of bullying.”
In a subsequent meeting between the child’s father, Walden, Huntley and Suelto, the principal “appeared to be on a witch hunt,” according to the lawsuit.
Suelto said two boys told her a month earlier that they saw the girl in the boys’ bathroom with her boyfriend with some of her clothing off, the suit states. The father asked Suelto why he did not tell her about the information sooner, but she refused to answer, according to the complaint.
Suelto also refused to allow the father to see the boys’ written accusations, citing privacy grounds, the suit states. The principal said she and the administration would recommend that his daughter be expelled, an action that was carried out despite the father’s plea that additional investigation be done before a final decision was rendered, the suit states.
Suelto advised the father of her expulsion by email, the suit states.
“The so-called parent/teacher meetings conducted by defendants resembled the Star Chamber of England,” the suit states, referring to the abuse and misuse of the courts by the English monarchy from the 15th to the 17th centuries.
Bevacqua left the decision of whether the girl should be expelled to Suelto even though the school handbook mandates that the final decision in such cases rests with the pastor in consultation with the principal, the suit states.
“Remarkably, the pastor told (her) father that there was nothing he could do to reverse the expulsion,” the suit states.
Bevacqua told the father to “move on,” according to the lawsuit.
“The pastor completely abdicated his responsibility to determine what punishment, if any, is just in (her) case,” the suit alleges.
A lawyer for the archdiocese told an attorney representing the child, who is now 14, that she would not be reinstated and that “things would get ugly” for the girl if a lawsuit was filed, the suit alleges.
“In typical fashion, the Catholic Church attempted to sweep the church’s mishandling of (her) discipline under the rug,” the suit states.
— City News Service