Brentwood Union School District Superintendent Dana Eaton announced Friday that it’s fourth lawsuit alleging physical and emotional abuse has been settled.
Dina Holder
On December 1st, 2016, insurance representatives for the Brentwood Union School District reached a settlement agreement in Hirsch v. Brentwood Union School District. This lawsuit was originally filed in October of 2015. The agreement calls for the two plaintiffs to receive $500,000 total each in compensation and legal fees. The lawsuit plaintiffs will dismiss their lawsuit against the district and others.
The latest legal filing was the fourth to allege physical and emotional abuse by special education teacher Dina Holder, whose teaching credential was revoked in 2013 following a no-contest plea to child abuse for kicking a student in 2010.
- Hirsch v. Brentwood School District alleged Holder abused two former students, now adults, in the 1998-1999 and 2001-2002 school years.
- A 2012 lawsuit alleging abuse by Holder settled for $950,000.
- In January 2014, the District’s JPA settled an additional lawsuit filed on behalf of 8 students and 11 parents for $8 million in compensation and legal fees.
- Another lawsuit, filed in 2014 on behalf of six students and nine parents, was dismissed in Summary Judgement on July 18th, 2016.
The terms of the settlement were negotiated between plaintiffs attorneys and representatives of the district’s insurance program. The insurance program will pay the settlement amount; it will not come from the Brentwood Union School District’s operating budget.
According to the Press Release:
In the last four years, the Brentwood Union School District made important changes to ensure that all students are educated in a safe environment. Mandated reporter training in the Brentwood Union School District exceeds the legal requirements outlined by the state of California. Every employee in the District is regularly trained on the responsibilities of being a mandated reporter. The District has continued it’s partnership with the Child Abuse Prevention Council, that provides in-person training for all staff, to ensure that every employee knows and fulfills the duties we share to protect students.
Our the current staff continues to work tremendously hard to meet the needs of all of our current students. While it is important that we carefully review and defend any cases brought against the district, our primary focus remains on the over 9,000 students we serve each day who deserve our absolute best.
