BREAKING NEWS: Crew Janci LLP Obtains Record $3.5 Million Public School Settlement for Oregon Sexual Abuse Survivor

In a landmark development that reverberated through Oregon’s legal landscape, justice prevailed for one survivor of sexual abuse in the St. Helens School District in Oregon. Major media are reporting on a recent settlement obtained by attorneys Stephen F. Crew and Peter B. Janci and the team at Crew Janci for an Oregon survivor of sexual abuse in a local public school.

The $3.5 million settlement stems from a lawsuit filed against the St. Helens School District by a single student (referred to in the case using the fictitious name “Jessica Doe” to protect her privacy). Major media report that the settlement is the largest amount ever paid to a single plaintiff in a public school sexual abuse case in Oregon. In fact, the media is reporting that the settlement is also larger than any jury verdict in a sexual abuse case against a public school district in the state.

The victim in the case was sexually abused by a teacher and coach at St. Helens High School in 2017 and 2018. The perpetrator—Kyle Wroblewski, a teacher and coach in the St. Helens School District—has since been convicted and incarcerated for multiple counts of sexual abuse and misconduct occurring over several years. 

Crew Janci filed a lawsuit for the victim against the St. Helens School District in the Fall of 2019—alleging claims of negligence and violations of Jessica Doe’s civil rights, as well as violations of Title IX’s prohibitions of sex discrimination. At the core of most of these claims was the allegation that the St. Helens School District knowingly placed the victim in harm’s way, acting with “deliberate indifference” to the known danger posed by the perpetrator (Kyle Wroblewski). The lawsuit alleged that the school district failed to take appropriate action to prevent or address the abuse despite being aware of complaints and concerns raised by students, parents, and staff.

The District defended the case and eventually filed a motion for summary judgment, challenging the evidence. A federal judge (U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacie F. Beckerman) reviewed the evidence in the case and denied the district’s motion for summary judgment, finding that there was evidence that the District knew about the danger and acted with deliberate indifference.

In denying the District’s motion to throw out the case, Judge Beckerman noted the following evidence uncovered by Crew Janci as important:

Crew and Janci said school district officials knew how the district had failed their client but still put her through several years of litigation after she filed suit in 2019.

The effect of the judge’s ruling was that the victim’s case was “greenlighted” to proceed to a jury trial. After that decision, the District eventually decided to settle the case rather than face a jury verdict.

Despite receiving complaints and warnings from dozens of students, parents, and staff members, over a ten-year period, the district failed to take decisive action to protect its students from harm. As a result, the district’s inaction allowed Wroblewski to groom the 16-year-old Jessica Doe on the track team in 2017 and sexually abuse her on school grounds and at his home for over seven months until his arrest in 2018.

The settlement will provide some measure of compensation and closure for the survivor of the abuse. Meanwhile, attorneys at Crew Janci are also pleased that it has prompted a public discussion and potential reforms within the St. Helens School District and other educational institutions regarding policies and procedures for addressing allegations of sexual misconduct and protecting students from harm.

“We are hopeful that the ripple effects of this monumental settlement will extend far beyond this case and will set a new benchmark for victims of sexual abuse in public schools,” said the victim’s attorney Peter Janci.