Some seven years after a student claimed a Dunsmuir High School principal harassed her and unfairly disciplined her, a federal court jury has rejected her claims.
After a five-day trial, a jury of eight women voted unanimously Tuesday to reject Dayna Padula’s claim in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Sacramento.
The jury deliberated 90 minutes before reaching a decision, said Redding attorney John Kelley, who represented the Dunsmuir Joint Union High School District, former superintendent and principal Bob Morris and other district officials.
Kelley said he thought the jury reached its decision because Padula’s story changed over the years, her testimony was contradictory, and she had no corroborating witnesses.
“Her credibility was basically zero,” Kelley said Wednesday.
Kelley said he called 10 witnesses to testify in the trial, and the Padulas’ attorney called 12 witnesses.
In 2005, Padula’s family filed a lawsuit in federal court claiming that Morris singled her out and unfairly disciplined her. They also claimed that in 2003, when Padula was a freshman, he slapped her on the behind as she was walking out of Morris’ office.
The Padulas’ attorney, Anthony T. Caso, did not return phone messages left at his office Wednesday.
The allegations against Morris surfaced in 2004 when parents and students wrote letters and spoke out at district board meetings complaining about Morris’ alleged behavior, which they said included inappropriate contact, favoritism and intimidation.
Morris resigned in 2004, the same year the district hired a private investigator to look into the complaints against him.
That investigation found nearly all of the allegations against Morris could not be proved.
Padula’s mother, Pamela, said in 2007 that she thought the report was a whitewash.
Former board member Steve Rogers said Wednesday he was unhappy it took so many years for the matter to be resolved.
“I think seven years is a long time to deal with it,” Rogers said.
He blamed the controversy surrounding the allegations on the Record Searchlight. The paper “fanned the flames” by writing about the claims made by parents and students, he said.
All the while, district officials could not publicly answer the allegations, he said.
“It takes years and years for things to come out right,” Rogers said.
The newspaper successfully sued the district after it refused to turn over the 2004 investigative report. In 2007 a state appeals court ruled that the district had to make the report public. The district also had to pay the paper’s court costs, about $64,000.
Morris has retired and is living in Trinity County, Kelley said.
In the harassment case, Kelley said there were originally 21 plaintiffs who sued 11 defendants. Three of the plaintiffs dropped out, and 17 others were dismissed by the court in 2008, leaving only the Padulas to go forward for trial.
Five of the original 11 defendants were dropped from the case. The remaining defendants included Morris, current Dunsmuir High Vice Principal and teacher Raymond Kellar; former school counselor Paula Schmitt; board member William Townsend and former board member Rogers.
Kelley said the defendants are entitled to recover some of their court costs from the plaintiffs. He said the costs could be as much as $20,000
