A judge has trimmed a lawsuit brought against the Calabasas Shul in which two plaintiffs who are now adults allege they were sexually abused by an imprisoned former Hollywood studio architect.
The Van Nuys Superior Court suit was filed in July 2022 and names as defendants both the architect, Jeffrey Cooper, and the synagogue. Cooper was a longtime member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He founded the Calabasas Shul in 1994 and served as its board president.
The plaintiffs are identified only as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2. On Tuesday, Judge Huey P. Cotton denied the shul’s motion to dismiss Doe 1’s negligence claim, but granted the motion on the same cause of action as it pertained to Doe 2. He also tossed out Doe 1’s breach of duty to report sexual abuse allegation, but said Doe 2 could proceed to trial on that claim.
Addressing the Doe 1’s negligence claim, the judge said, “The court finds that defendant had a duty to protect plaintiff from sexual assault while under its protection. Whether that duty was breached by defendant allowing Doe 1 to be openly groomed by Cooper is a jury issue.”
The Does’ causes of action for intentional infliction of emotional distress and sexual assault and battery also will be heard by a jury. Trial is scheduled Aug. 18.
The shul’s attorneys’ court papers stated that Doe 1 alleged the molestation occurred in a music room not on shul property after the plaintiff’s parents left her alone with him during a 2006 personal visit. The shul lawyers contended that the synagogue had no obligation to protect Doe 1 from the alleged misconduct of a third party such as Cooper.
In a sworn declaration, Doe 1 referred multiple times to what Cooper allegedly did to her as “the incident.” Doe 1 further says she participated in a Kids Club with other children when she attended the Calabasas Shul when it regularly operated out of Bay Laurel Elementary School.
“During Kids Club and years prior to the incident, Cooper increasingly began to be more physical towards me,” Doe 1 says. “He would give me hugs, hold my hands, rub his hands on my back and sit very close to me,” she said, adding that Cooper “did not in any way try to hide it or minimize it.”
Doe 1 says that because no one ever raised concerns about Cooper’s conduct toward her during Kids Club, she thought it was normal.
“No one affiliated with the shul ever provided me or my parents with any training, education or warnings that the type of behavior Cooper was exhibiting towards me was inappropriate or could lead to unwanted sexual advances,” Doe 1 says. “I now understand that this was grooming behavior by Cooper.”
Cooper was convicted in May 2022 of three felony counts of lewd acts on a child involving Jane Doe 1. Jurors deadlocked on charges against Cooper that involved his second accuser, who was 6 years old when Cooper allegedly began grooming her.
Cooper, now 72, was sentenced to eight years in state prison by Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Alan Schneider, who also ordered him to register as a sex offender. Cooper was attacked by other inmates in August and October of 2022, leaving him with an ongoing hearing loss as well as headaches and memory impairment.