ACTS law announced today that it has secured a $2,250,000 settlement on behalf of a student who was sexually assaulted on campus at Los Osos High School due to what the lawsuit alleged was the school district’s prolonged failure to properly supervise, monitor, and protect its students.
The settlement was reached on the eve of trial following extensive litigation, including multiple rounds of discovery, depositions, and motion pictures.
The lawsuit, L.G. v. Chaffey Joint Union High School District (Case No. CIVSB2203415), alleged that the District and Los Osos High School failed to supervise a known problematic area on campus: a walled, enclosed ADA-accessible area where students frequently hid and congregated. According to the complaint, security personnel had previously discovered students concealing themselves inside the structure on multiple occasions, yet the District failed to implement adequate supervision or real-time camera monitoring to protect students.
In the fall of 2021, the plaintiff, a minor, was forcibly sexually assaulted on campus during the lunch period. The complaint alleged that the assault lasted more than 17 minutes, was captured on the school’s own security cameras, and occurred without any intervention by school staff. The student returned to class late, visibly injured, but, according to the filing, no teacher or administrator noticed or reported her condition. The incident was not discovered until weeks later, after the video footage was finally received.
Attorney Andrew I. Chung, who assisted in the litigation, emphasized the broader
implications for school safety accountability:
“Schools have a legal and moral duty to provide a safe environment for every student. When
a district installs cameras but doesn’t monitor them, ignores repeated warning signs, and
allows known blind spots to persist, it betrays that duty. This settlement sends a clear
message that turning a blind eye to student safety is unacceptable.”
The complaint detailed that Los Osos High School had a documented history of prior incidents regarding violence and sexual misconduct, including hidden cameras placed by a staff member in restrooms and locker rooms just months before the assault occurred. Despite that history, the suit alleged that no meaningful safety measures were implemented.
