From the Lexington Herald-Leader, a successful civil trial just reported. An excerpt:
Urged "to send a message to these folks" by Carol Lynne Maner's attorney, Fayette jurors leveled a $3.7 million verdict against the Fayette County Board of Education yesterday in Maner's high-profile sex-abuse lawsuit.
Eleven members of the jury, composed of four men and eight women, found that school district officials in the late 1970s and early 1980s ignored allegations Maner was sexually abused by four teachers, a guidance counselor and an assistant principal at Beaumont Junior High School and Lafayette High School.
"I believe this is a win for all children in Kentucky," Maner said. "Justice is done."
The jury, later voting 9-3, awarded Maner $3.5 million for past and future emotional suffering and $200,000 for lost wages from being denied educational opportunities because of the alleged abuse.
Maner, 44, hugged attorney Chris Miller and started weeping when Fayette Circuit Judge Thomas Clark read the verdict. Friends and relatives in the audience also embraced.
"Unbelievable," one said.
The emotional suffering damages surpassed even what Miller had suggested. In his closing argument he noted that $100 a day for the more than 10,000 days that have passed since the alleged abuse adds up to $1 million. He did not request a specific dollar figure for future suffering.
The school board is likely to appeal. It can also ask Clark to reduce or overrule the verdict.
I wager that the large jury award is very likely to be reduced either through settlement or on appeal. Still, it will provide an incentive for future civil lawsuits for sexual assault.
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