The Española School District settled a sexual abuse lawsuit for $3.2 million, following abuse by former teacher Gary Gregor, shielded by the administration.
The District could be forced to pay $2.45 million of the total settlement out of its coffers, after one insurance provider claimed it does not have to pay because the District did not disclose its liability from the abusive teacher.
The settlement agreement was signed Oct. 6 and the case was dismissed from federal District Court on Oct. 13.
The New Mexico Public School Insurance Authority, run by Cannon Cochran Management Services, Inc., wrote a letter, Aug. 10, to Superintendent Eric Martinez laying out the potential problems.
The Insurance Authority’s agreement states it will pay up to $750,000 for claims per school year. To pick up the slack, the Insurance Authority has a secondary policy through Selective Insurance, which provides coverage in excess of the $750,000, up to $4.25 million.
“Selective Insurance is denying coverage on the grounds that the Espanola (sic) Schools knew, or should have known, about potential pending claims and failed to disclose these potential claims before Selective Insurance issued its policy,” Senior Claims Specialist Marc Bernstein wrote in the letter.
Martinez did not respond to emails requesting clarification on the District’s current liability.
District spokesman and Rio Arriba County Commissioner Barney Trujillo, wrote in a text message, that he would try to get Martinez to answer questions about the District’s liability. Trujillo has a $50,000 marketing contract with the District.
Those potential claims stem from Gregor, accused of molesting students while he was a teacher at Fairview Elementary School.
“In addition, it is anticipated that other claimants may pursue claims against this same alleged perpetrator, Gary Gregor,” Bernstein wrote.
Genesis Insurance, the provider that covers any additional liability between $5 million and $10 million, may also deny its coverage policy for the same reasons, Bernstein wrote.
That could become an issue because lawyer Cammie Nichols, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the girl only identified by the initials K.S., has filed another lawsuit in federal District Court on behalf of another victim, N.H.
The second lawsuit was filed on Oct. 10 in federal District Court.
According to court documents, there are at least four victims of Gregor’s abuse from his time as a teacher at Fairview Elementary. The girls claimed they were abused during the 2007-2008 School Year.
Because both girls were allegedly abused during the same timeframe, if the new case settles for anything close to the $3.2 million K.S.’s case settled for, the District will need to utilize its policy through Genesis Insurance.
Most of the facts of each case are the same because N.H. testified in depositions for the first lawsuit and the girls experienced similar abuse.
According to Bernstein’s letter, Nichols originally asked for a settlement of $12 million to settle the first case with K.S.
The first case
K.S. and her parents first filed the lawsuit, through Nichols, in state court on Feb. 27, 2014. The case was then removed to federal District Court on April 28, 2014 and dismissed on Oct. 13, 2016.
Gregor taught in the District between 2005 and 2009. He was moved from the now-closed Mountain View Elementary School, in Cordova, to Fairview Elementary for the 2006-2007 School Year. He continued teaching there until he was placed on administrative leave on April 15, 2009, after Española police began investigating the allegations.
“We knew about the various victims from our investigation,” Nichols said in an Oct. 18 telephone interview. “In the course of working with Jane Doe (N.H.) as a witness, she realized she herself has claims. (She) decided to pursue her own claims.”
Jane Doe is also known by the initials N.H. in court documents.
“The two young women were in the same classroom,” Nichols said. “Things happened to Jane Doe described in first complaint, as well. They were all together at the same exact time, being abused in the same exact way.”
She said three victims gave testimony at Public Education Department hearings regarding Gregor’s licensure.
According to the lawsuits, the three victims listed as being abused by Gregor during the 2007-2008 School Year were V.S., and K.S., both 10 at the time, and N.H., 11 at the time.
Former principal Ruby Montoya allegedly shielded Gregor from parent complaints and never reported the alleged abuse.
Former superintendent David Cockerham also covered for Gregor’s alleged abuse and testified in depositions that he thought any allegations against Gregor were entirely within his discretion to report to law enforcement or the Children, Youth and Families Department, which investigates child abuse.
He never reported any of the alleged abuse.