In this case, Daniel Shinoff advised the district to appeal the jury's decision. Shame on Poway Unified School District for doing what Shinoff wanted. Attorney Jeffery Morris filed the appeal, which seems not to have been ruled on. Apparently, the district settled the case.
June 8, 2005
Jury awards gay, ex-Poway High students $300K
By: SCOTT MARSHALL - Staff Writer
Click HERE to see the original article.
SAN DIEGO ---- A Superior Court jury Wednesday awarded two former Poway High School students a combined total of $300,000 after determining that school officials failed to stop ongoing harassment they suffered because of their sexual orientation.
The students, both of whom are gay, alleged they were verbally threatened at school, and one said he was beat up and had his car vandalized.
Jurors found that Joseph "Joey" Ramelli and Megan Donovan, both 19, were subject to "severe and pervasive" harassment, that school officials knew or should have known about it, and that officials failed to take "immediate corrective action," attorneys in the case said.
Daniel Shinoff, an attorney for the Poway Unified School District, said the jury also found that the district and its employees did not discriminate against Ramelli and Donovan.
The jury awarded $175,000 to Ramelli and $125,000 to Donovan.
Jurors did not comment to the media about their verdicts.
Poway Unified School District Superintendent Don Phillips issued a prepared statement Wednesday afternoon in which he expressed "a great deal of respect" for the jury's efforts and said he was "heartened" by the jury's finding that the district did not discriminate.
Phillips said in the prepared statement that the district's attorneys have recommended that the district ask a state appeals court to review the case.
"The district is committed to tolerance and respect for all members of our community," Phillips said. "I believe the efforts by our staff to provide support for these two students was significant."
Shinoff said the Poway school board will have to decide whether to appeal the ruling. Its next meeting is June 27.
Attorney Bridget J. Wilson, who also represented Ramelli and Donovan, told jurors in her opening statement at the trial that her clients were verbally threatened. She said Ramelli was spit upon, punched and kicked and that his car was vandalized.
School officials took "minimal or no action at all" when the incidents were reported, Wilson said.
When Donovan and Ramelli complained, they were accused of exaggerating and fabricating events, Wilson told the jury.
The district's attorney, Paul Carelli, wrote in a trial brief filed with the court before the trial that "considerable evidence" existed to show that district administrators investigated the alleged incidents, but that the complaints from Ramelli and Donovan often were "vague, provided no names and no witnesses."
School officials said during the trial that the school had counseling programs in place for students. Carelli said one teacher offered to escort Ramelli to the bathroom and another told him he could park his car next to the classroom, but he never took advantage of the offers.
Rosenstein said in an interview Wednesday that her clients did not want to sue the district, but they, their parents and their attorneys received no response when took their complaints to the district...
Ramelli and Donovan left Poway High after their junior year and went to an independent study program before they graduated, Rosenstein said.
Ramelli and Donovan, who had asked for $225,000 each, now attend Palomar College and work, the attorney said.
City News Service contributed to this report.
HERE'S ANOTHER REPORT ABOUT THE PLAINTIFFS IN THIS CASE
Grand Marshal: Joseph ‘Joey’ Ramelli and Megan Donovan
Published Thursday, 28-Jul-2005 in issue 918
here
Heading this year’s Pride parade are two former Poway High School students who have proved themselves exemplary of grass-roots activism this year.
Having endured more than three years of emotionally distressing harassment at Poway High, the duo took their cases to San Diego Superior Court after their concerns and complaints were pushed aside by school administrators.
The pair testified to a federal judge, relating Ramelli’s story of extensive teasing and taunting that started in his freshman year and Donovan’s experience of mistreatment as an out lesbian, which she said led to her being denied a position on the girls’ varsity softball team. Both experienced substantial bouts of absenteeism due to the uncomfortable environment they felt was present at Poway High.
The school hired a team of lawyers to counter the Ramelli and Donovan’s claims, but the two stuck out the five-week trial. At its conclusion, Ramelli was awarded $175,000 and Donovan received $125,000 in damages due to mistreatment, though the jury failed to find the school or its employees liable for any discrimination.
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