A jury ruled in favor of a former Milton High School student Friday in his lawsuit against the town and school district for negligence in a 2012 sexual assault.
After two days and 10 hours of deliberation, the 21-year-old plaintiff was awarded $280,000 by the jury. He had sought $2.5 million.
The victim sued the Town of Milton and school district after he was assaulted his freshman year. Several members of the football team penetrated his rectum with a pool cue at a team dinner hosted at a private residence the night before a game.
A strikingly similar case in Milton drew national attention when another victim, Jordan Preavy, committed suicide a year after a similar assault with a broomstick. In that case, however, the Chittenden County Superior Court dismissed a lawsuit filed by the family against the school district — a decision the Supreme Court upheld.
The plaintiff in this week’s trial and his counsel, Burlington-based lawyer Jerry O’Neill, argued that the school knew of other homophobic bullying incidents on the Milton High School football team and failed to address the misconduct.
The jury’s initial verdict was rejected by the judge because the decision both compensated the victim and stated that the victim’s harm was not caused by the school’s negligence. Judge Helen Toor said if the jury was going to require that the victim be compensated, they also had to determine the school was negligent. She asked the jury to reassess the decision.
After a few additional minutes of deliberation, the jury unanimously concluded that the school’s negligence had, in fact, caused harm.
The school’s counsel, Pietro Lynn, said the district was satisfied with the result and had no plan to appeal the outcome.
“This was a very difficult case. I can say that the district is incredibly pleased that it’s over and behind us,” Lynn said. “As always, we’re very concerned when any student is harmed.”
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O’Neill declined to comment on the verdict.
At the very end of the proceedings, Toor thanked the lawyers and the jury for all the work that was put into the case, acknowledging that it was a long week with a lot of complicated legal questions.
“You all did an excellent job arguing this on both sides,” she said. “I know it wasn’t simple.”
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