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School sexual abuse claims in the Bay AreaConfidential. No fee unless we recover.

Four Bay Area districts have a public record of school sexual abuse claims: Union School District, Tamalpais Union High, San Ramon Valley Unified and San Jose Unified. Survivors of abuse at any Bay Area school can still bring claims. You can read this page in confidence, and nothing happens unless you decide to contact us.

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Josh Kohanim, Esq.Written and reviewed by Josh Kohanim, Esq., California Bar No. 328609 · Published · Reviewed

In this guide

You can read this page without contacting anyone. If you choose to reach out, you can do it without giving your name. Nothing happens until you say so. If this happened to you or your child at a Bay Area school, the record below is public, and the sections after it explain the law.

Districts with a public record

Public reporting names four districts. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case depends on its own facts.

What happenedOutcomeDateSource
Union School District, Dartmouth Middle: two students abused by a music teacher, now serving 56 years$102.5 million jury judgment; new trial deniedJune 2022KTVU
Tamalpais Union High: four survivors of a tennis coach, now serving 255 years$17.5 million settlement; 2022 verdict upheld on appealDecember 2024San Francisco Standard
San Ramon Valley Unified: two students abused by a theater teacher, 2009 to 2011$6,999,900 settlementJuly 2025Danville San Ramon
San Jose Unified, Pioneer High: a 17-year-old assaulted in class by a teacher, later convicted$2 million settlementFebruary 2022ABC7 News

Union School District

Two former Dartmouth Middle School students, Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2, sued the Union School District in San Jose over abuse by music teacher Samuel Neipp, who pleaded no contest in 2019 and is serving 56 years. Jurors found the district 80 percent liable for one survivor's abuse and 55 percent for the other's, and a judge denied a new trial in June 2022. See our Union School District page.

Tamalpais Union High

Tamalpais Union High School District settled in December 2024 with four survivors of tennis coach Normandie Burgos, who was convicted in 2019 of 60 counts of child molestation. A Marin County jury had found the district liable in 2022, and a state appellate court denied the district's appeal in September 2024. One survivor testified that an administrator saw the abuse, made a joke and left. See our Tamalpais Union page.

San Ramon Valley Unified

On July 22, 2025, San Ramon Valley Unified settled with two former students, Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2, who alleged a theater teacher abused them on school grounds from 2009 to 2011. Their amended complaint alleged the district failed to prevent or investigate the abuse until 2012, after both had graduated. The reporting describes no criminal case, so we do not name the teacher. See our San Ramon Valley Unified page.

San Jose Unified

San Jose Unified settled on February 11, 2022 with a former Pioneer High School student who was assaulted in a classroom at 17 by teacher Ricardo Chavarria, who was later convicted. The suit claimed officials failed to supervise him and ignored warning signs. See our San Jose Unified page.

Filing deadlines

California has two tracks. For abuse on or after January 1, 2024, there is no time limit; that is AB 452, now Code of Civil Procedure section 340.1(p). For abuse before that date, AB 218 controls: a survivor may file until age 40, or within five years of discovering that an adult injury was caused by the abuse, whichever is later. Survivors 40 and older also file certificates of merit from an attorney and a licensed mental health practitioner. No government claim is required for childhood sexual assault under Government Code section 905(m). SB 577 passed the Legislature at the end of August 2026 and awaited the Governor as of September 23, 2026. It may change the rules for older claims. Our statute of limitations page tracks it.

District responsibility

A public district answers for its employees under Government Code section 815.2. In C.A. v. William S. Hart Union High School District (2012), the California Supreme Court held that a district can be liable when its administrators negligently hired, kept or supervised an abusive employee. In Doe v. Lawndale Elementary School District (2021), the Court of Appeal held that this duty does not depend on proof that the district knew of the employee's prior misconduct. Whether administrators responded reasonably to warning signs is a question for the jury. Section 340.1 allows up to treble damages for a cover-up, but in Los Angeles Unified School District v. Superior Court (2023) the Supreme Court held that Government Code section 818 bars that enhancement against public entities. We do not promise it.

Statewide representation

Our office is in Tarzana, in Los Angeles County. We handle school abuse cases statewide by phone, video and travel. The Bay Area has experienced firms in this field, and an attorney will say on the first call if one of them is the better fit, and why. The distance changes nothing about the law or the deadlines above. More is on our California school sexual abuse lawyer page.

A confidential first step

Call, text, or use the confidential form on this page. The form has no narrative box; it asks how to reach you and whether it is safe to call. A Jane Doe or John Doe filing is common in these cases, and we will ask whether you want one. You do not have to face the abuser to bring a claim. No fee unless we recover. If there is no recovery, you owe no fee and no case costs.

Records to gather

You do not need any documents to call. Our before you call checklist for adult survivors lists what helps: the school and the years, the adult's role, yearbooks, photos, messages, and friends who knew. Parents can use our after your child tells you checklist. Write down what your child said in their words, with the date. Preserve messages and devices, and ask the school for its written policy and its Title IX coordinator's name. Do not contact the abuser or the district, and do not post details online.

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Sources cited

Frequently asked questions

Can I still sue a Bay Area school district for abuse that happened in the 1990s or 2000s?
Possibly, yes. For abuse before January 1, 2024, a survivor may file until age 40, or within five years of discovering that an adult injury was caused by the abuse, whichever is later. Survivors 40 and older need certificates of merit from an attorney and a mental health practitioner. SB 577, awaiting the Governor as of September 2026, may change the rules for older claims, so an attorney should check your dates now.
Your office is in Los Angeles. Why would I call you instead of a Bay Area firm?
You may end up with a Bay Area firm, and the first call is the place to find out. An attorney reviews your situation by phone or video, tells you which filing track applies, and says plainly whether we are the right fit or whether another firm would serve you better, and why. We handle cases statewide by phone, video and travel. Nothing moves forward until you decide.
Will my name be public if I file?
Usually not. Survivors in these cases commonly file as Jane Doe or John Doe, as the plaintiffs did in the Union School District and San Ramon Valley cases. We will ask whether you want that and explain what it protects. Your first contact with us is confidential, you can use any name, and you do not have to face the abuser to bring a claim.
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