Marin school district sued again over ex-coach’s alleged sexual abuse
The lawsuit comes in the aftermath of a $10 million jury verdict against the district in a related case involving a different plaintiff.
The Tamalpais High Union High School District is facing another lawsuit from a graduate who claims he was sexually abused by former tennis coach Normandie Burgos.
The lawsuit comes in the aftermath of a $10 million jury verdict against the district in a related case involving a different plaintiff.
Burgos, 58, is serving a potential life prison sentence resulting from a molestation case in the East Bay.
The new lawsuit involves a 38-year-old resident of Santa Clara County. He alleges the abuses occurred during the 1999-2000 school year while he was a student at Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley.
The unnamed plaintiff is called “John Doe” in the suit, which was filed by a law office in Beverly Hills. The suit names the school district and Burgos as defendants.
After “grooming and befriending” the plaintiff, the suit alleges, Burgos invited the teen into his office under the pretense of checking his pulse. Burgos then reached into the teen’s pants and groped his genitals, the suit says.
The plaintiff alleges that the school district failed to protect him against Burgos despite receiving prior complaints about his predatory conduct. He is seeking unspecified damages on claims of childhood sexual abuse, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent hiring and supervision of an employee, failure to report suspected child abuse and negligent supervision of a minor.
The case was filed in Marin County Superior Court. An initial hearing is scheduled for Dec. 5.
“We cannot comment on current litigation,” Tara Taupier, the superintendent of the school district, said Friday.
In May, a Marin County jury awarded $10 million to Alex Harrison, a former Tam High tennis player who sued the school district over alleged sexual abuses by Burgos.
Harrison, who attended the school from 2000 to 2004, said the district failed to protect him from Burgos despite evidence the coach was engaging in misconduct. Harrison sued the school district in 2020 after a new state law gave victims of childhood sex crimes more time to file lawsuits.
The school district is challenging the verdict in the 1st District Court of Appeal.
An attempt to prosecute Burgos in Marin County in 2010 ended in a mistrial. The prosecution alleged crimes against two students, including Harrison, but also alleged a pattern of behavior involving five students dating to 2002.
Burgos went on to start a tennis program in Richmond, which eventually led to his 2019 conviction in Contra Costa County on 60 counts of molesting players there. A judge sentenced him to 255 years to life in prison. An appeals court reversed six of the lesser charges.
Burgos is incarcerated at Mule Creek State Prison in Amador County.