A young woman who alleges she was sexually abused as a teen by a part-time wrestling coach at her school has settled her lawsuit with the Covina-Valley Unified School District.
The girl’s mother was also is a plaintiff in the Los Angeles Superior Court complaint, which was filed in December 2015 and alleged negligence, negligent infliction of emotional distress and sexual harassment. Attorneys for the plaintiffs filed court papers on May 3 stating the case was resolved. No terms were divulged.
The complaint alleged the girl, now in her 20s, was sexually abused by the coach, Anthony Vidales, while she was a member of his team at South Hills High School in West Covina during the 2013-14 and 2014-15 school years.
The suit alleged the school administration negligently hired, supervised and retained Vidales. Principal Chad Stewart, Assistant Principal Manuel Burciaga, acting Dean of Students Lisa Berry and Athletic Director Darren Murphy were all responsible for monitoring Vidales to make sure he properly coached, taught, counseled and advised students, including the plaintiff, the suit stated.
The four school officials also should have known Vidales “had previously engaged in dangerous and inappropriate conduct with children,” the suit alleged.