A judge ruled last week that the Union City Board of Education (BOE) can be held liable for a teacher’s sexual assault of two students dating back to 2004.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“David Wilcomes, who was the principal of Plaintiff Garcia’s high school at the time of the incident, cited in a written statement that Defendant Realpe had formed unhealthy relationships with students and did not develop a proper distinction between teacher and student,” explained Hudson County Superior Court Judge Kalimah Ahmad.
“Defendant Realpe also admitted to being warned by his fellow teachers and his supervisor, Mr. [Anthony] Lupo about his behavior. The Board ignored their suspicions towards Defendant Realpe, did not investigate into Defendant Realpe’s relationships with multiple underage students, and allowed him to remain employed until his termination in 2005. This evidence is sufficient to create a genuine dispute of material fact that must be decided by a jury at trial.”
On March 5th, Ahmad granted an order “in favor of Plaintiff on Plaintiff’s claim for vicarious liability against Union City Board of Education for the sexual abuse of Plaintiff Jessica Garcia by its agent and employee Francisco Realpe.”
On that same day, he denied a motion to dismiss from the Union City BOE.
“I had such a feeling of not just relief, but validation, to read the Court Order, especially seeing, in all capital letters, the word DENIED,” Jessica Garcia, 37, said in a statement.
Garcia, represented by Oliver T. Barry and Erika Lezama, of the Wildwood-based law firm Barry, Corrado, & Grassi, P.C., filed suit in April 2021 alleging that Realpe sexually assaulted her in 2004, as HCV first reported.
At the time, he had already been charged by the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office with sexually assaulting two students, which eventually faced a four-year prison sentence for in January 2023.
The same law firm is also representing another student of Realpe’s who alleges she was sexually assaulted by him in 2004. She filed her case anonymously.
“We are pleased that the Court recognized the changed landscape that the 2019 amendments to the New Jersey Tort Claims Act provides with both the plain language and legislative intent of those amendments setting forth that victims should have meaningful rather than illusory remedies,” Barry and Lezama said in a joint statement.
” … Holding the district responsible for the actions of her abuser, gives hope that bringing this case was the right thing to do, not just for her but for others who have suffered the same trauma.”
A spokesman for the Union City BOE did not return an email seeking comment, though the district typically does not comment on pending litigation.
