SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The law firm of Corsiglia, McMahon & Allard is announcing the filing of a sexual abuse lawsuit against the Tamalpais Union High School District. The post-Assembly Bill 218 lawsuit on behalf of the plaintiff was filed as a result of the new law which allows sexual abuse victims who have not sought justice to sue institutions for abuse until January 1, 2023, no matter how long ago the abuse occurred.
The complaint alleges that the plaintiff was a sexual abuse victim of tennis coach Normandie Burgos in 2002 and 2003 and that his abuse was preventable had the high school supervised Burgos after reprimanding him for sexual misconduct in late 2002.
According to the lawsuit, in November of 2002, the Mill Valley Police Department notified the school district of sexual misconduct by Burgos. The police were notified of the sexual misconduct by another Tamalpais student’s therapist after the student claimed Burgos made him unzip his pants to take his measurements and then reached down his pants and touched his genitals. Burgos admitted taking inappropriate thigh measurements.
The school district, according to the lawsuit, found that his behavior was “careless, highly inappropriate, and unjustifiable.” The warning letter issued to Burgos directed him not to engage in similar activities under any circumstances. However, the reprimand was never placed in Burgos’ personnel file, and no further efforts were taken to ensure that Burgos did not engage in sexual misconduct with students. With no supervision and fellow teachers unaware of Burgos’ behavior, Burgos again sexually abused the plaintiff numerous times in the Spring of 2003.
At one point, according to the complaint, the Tamalpais Athletic Director tried to enter the locker room but found the door locked. Once he unlocked it, he found the plaintiff lying down on a locker room table or bench. Burgos told the A.D. he was stretching him.
The abuse continued through plaintiff’s high school years. By the Spring of 2005, Burgos was sexually abusing additional students. In August of 2006, Burgos was arrested by Mill Valley Police. The district terminated Burgos from his employment with the school district on or around October of 2008 due to his sexual misconduct with several male students.
“This lawsuit is about holding the District accountable for failing to take action in response to a credible complaint of abuse,” attorney Mark Boskovich said. “If the District had taken this complaint seriously my client would have avoided months of abuse.”
Once Burgos left Tamalpais High School, he opened his tennis academy and recruited many Marin County youngsters. He would be arrested again in 2014, but allowed to coach until his third arrest in 2017. As a result of standing trial in 2017, he was convicted of 60 counts of sexual abuse and is now serving a 255-year prison sentence.
The lawsuit was filed in Marin County Superior Court at the end of March, but it is currently awaiting processing due to the delay caused by the coronavirus and the impact on the courts.