Catholic school teach John Fischler was awarded over $360k in compensatory damages. Two girls branded the teacher a "perf" and "creepy", plus alleged that he had touched them inappropriately.
The unusual case began in 2011 when administrators at Holy Spirit school in Almaden Valley were told that teacher John Fischler had inappropriately touched their 10- and 11-year-old girls and peeked in a girls' bathroom. School officials and police cleared Fischler of sexual misconduct.
But the teacher, claiming the ordeal had indelibly stained his reputation and ruined his teaching career, declined to return to what he called a poisonous atmosphere at work and filed a lawsuit seeking nearly $1 million in damages.
The lawsuit contended he was the victim of a "conspiracy" by "classic parent bullies" and their daughters, including a popular girl he described as having a "gang-leader-like personality," to get him fired from the private Catholic school where he was an at-will employee.
I did not report on the case when it hit the press. I don’t remember why and my notes don’t give me a clear indication, but I can speculate that without physical evidence, I found it hard to believe a simple witness statement.
