Olympia School District has agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle a lawsuit on behalf of two children allegedly molested by a former bus driver.
Gary Shafer was convicted of molesting three girls and possessing child pornography in 2011. During criminal proceedings, he reportedly admitted to molesting dozens of girls, but few have come forward.
Since his conviction, Shafer has been serving a 14-1/2 year sentence at Stafford Creek Corrections Center in Aberdeen. Meanwhile, Olympia School District has faced multiple civil suits for its role as Shafer's employer.
Last week, the district reached a settlement in a lawsuit that was filed in April 2016 in U.S. District Court in Tacoma.
With this settlement, the parties avoid a jury trial that was scheduled for next month. Attorney Darrell Cochran told The Olympian the settlement should greatly help the two children he represented in the case, both of them are now adults.
"It'll definitely help them get colleges paid for and establish a little stability in a life that we know, statistically, is bound to encounter lots of bumps because of child sexual abuse," Cochran said.
The initial complaint accused the district and former officials of hiring Shafer without a proper background check and allowing him to have unfettered access to children through deliberate indifference and lack of training.
"He started riding along on kindergarten, preschool and developmentally disabled buses in the district almost immediately after he got employment," Cochran said. "He did that because he was selecting and grooming victims."
Furthermore, the complaint accuses the district of failing to notify the families of children Shafer allegedly admitted to abusing by name.
Cochran said the district alerted families after he uncovered records indicating district officials knew that Shafer admitted to molesting girls with the same names as his clients.
He said he reported his finding to the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and Olympia police. The families of two girls then hired him to represent them.
"I was vexed by the fact that they had not alerted the families," Cochran said. "It's a public health crisis to leave children who are sexually abused without treatment and alerting families to this. It's inexcusable."
Susan Gifford, a spokesperson for the Olympia School District, confirmed the $7.5 million settlement in a statement to The Olympian. She said the settlement includes all fees, costs and any other potential liability of the district or the other defendants in the case.
In response to questions, Gifford said the district's insurer settled the lawsuit directly on behalf of all defendants. The entire cost will be fully covered by the district's insurance pool and contract from the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 school years.
"Olympia School District will continue to place a high priority on student safety and invest in best-practice training for staff and for mandatory reporters to help ensure a safe learning environment for students," Gifford said. "We are hopeful that with this settlement these two former students and their families can move forward."
Notably, questions from this case reached the Washington State Supreme Court in 2020.
The court ruled that Washington school districts may be held to strict liability for the discriminatory acts of its employees in places of public accommodation. That ruling covered intentional sexual misconduct including physical abuse and assault, The Olympian previously reported.
Cochran said the ruling allows children who are sexually abused to recover their litigation costs and their attorney fees from litigation.
"That increases the value of their claim, and it also prevents school districts and insurance companies, who are really at the root of the problem, from causing delay and unnecessary expense," Cochran said.
As a former OSD student himself, Cochran said he hopes lawsuits such as this can help the district improve its policies.
"Always with this series of lawsuits, I had hoped that they would take the opportunity to do good and clean house where they needed to," Cochran said. "I hope that they've taken full advantage of that opportunity."
