Bay Area Chiropractic Teacher Accused of Preying on Young Female Students

After she was injured in a car accident, a student at an East Bay chiropractic college began seeing one of her teachers for treatment. About a month into their sessions, she says, he sexually assaulted her under the guise of care.

The woman is one of at least five who reported sexual misconduct or assault by Cedric Stewart, 35, to Life Chiropractic College West in early 2023, according to a lawsuit filed last week in Alameda County Superior Court.

One says the college’s dean told her there was nothing Life West could do. Two say they were assured that there would be an investigation, but they never heard from the school. All of them say they don’t believe any steps were taken to investigate or discipline Stewart, who represented Life West at a prospective students’ weekend and annual conference later in 2023 and appeared to teach there until last month.

The women’s lawsuit against Stewart and Life West, one of the largest chiropractic schools on the West Coast, alleges that the college violated Title IX and other protective laws by allowing Stewart to remain on campus. Five accuse him of sexual misconduct at his Hayward office, and a sixth says he assaulted her in a Denver hotel room during a chiropractic conference.

“It’s illegal for colleges to ignore and sweep under the rug reports of sexual assault and harassment by professors,” says Wendy Musell, one of the attorneys representing the women, who have all chosen to remain anonymous. KQED does not identify victims of sexual assault.

“Safety is not a luxury; it’s a requirement, and we look forward to holding Life West accountable for its profound failures in keeping students safe,” Musell continued.

Neither Stewart nor Life West responded to requests for comment from KQED.

The women allege that Stewart had a pattern of using his role as an instructor to isolate and take advantage of young female students. He often promoted his private chiropractic practice during class, they say and offered students discounted treatment. During those sessions, he would make off-color comments about his open marriage and the women’s appearances, pressure them to share about their personal lives and touch them inappropriately.

Before her car accident in the winter of 2021, the woman who was injured had taken two classes with Stewart during her first quarter at Life West. She says that she asked Stewart for a referral to another local chiropractor who specialized in personal injury recovery but was told he was the only practitioner in the area and had handled multiple similar cases.

When she wasn’t able to find another professional who would take her on as a patient, she started seeing Stewart for treatment.

Just a few weeks into their sessions, the woman says Stewart told her that “other stressors” in her life prevented her from healing and urged her to open up to him. She told him about her relationship with her boyfriend, and he told her about his marriage, adding that he was “here for anything she needed.” The woman alleges that during their sessions, Stewart would tell her he loved her.

About a month into treatment, while the woman was lying on her back, she says Stewart moved completely on top of her. He asked her what she would do if he tried to kiss her.

“[The woman] was trapped under Stewart’s body, and his face was inches from her own,” the lawsuit alleges. She “tensed and froze, recognizing that she was trapped under [Stewart’s] body.”

She told him it would frustrate her and her boyfriend, and he replied that he was kidding.

In another session, Stewart led her into a back room for soft tissue manipulation, which he says would help his adjustments to hold better. As she laid face down, the lawsuit alleges that Stewart told the woman her boyfriend “was a lucky man” and “made a comment about how good of a view he had.”

As he rubbed lotion onto her legs, he moved his hand up her thigh and between her legs.

After that session, the woman says she avoided Stewart on campus and became increasingly uncomfortable at school. In February 2023, she confided in Jeana Edwards, a department chair and civil rights investigator on campus. She told Edwards about her sessions with Stewart and says she was fearful and uncomfortable around him.

Although the woman says Edwards indicated that others had complained about Stewart, she doesn’t believe any steps were taken to investigate him.

Edwards did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Two of the other plaintiffs were among a group of four women who reported sexual misconduct together in February 2023. They say they spoke with the school’s dean and Title IX coordinator to provide details about their encounters with Stewart.

One of the women identified other victims who Stewart had been inappropriate toward but were afraid to come forward, and says that she doesn’t believe the school ever contacted any of those women. There are also multiple pending complaints against Stewart to the California Board of Chiropractic Examiners.

The complaint alleges that when one of the women reported harassment to the school, its Title IX coordinator told her that it would “violate [Stewart’s] rights” to report him to the chiropractic licensing board or remove him from campus. Another woman says that when she told the dean that she didn’t feel safe on campus, he “openly admitted to [multiple women] that Life West had no set procedures for sexual assaults or responding to Title IX complaints,” the suit says.

“The [women] had gone to the school and reported these issues, and as set forth in the complaint, there was a complete failure at every level for Life West to address their complaints,” Musell told KQED.

As a result of Stewart’s actions and the school’s failure to rectify them, one of the women was diagnosed with PTSD and forced to attend classes remotely in the spring of 2023, according to the lawsuit. Another has ongoing nightmares of Stewart chasing her, and multiple have reported developing panic attacks.

They believe that Life West violated its obligations under Title IX, the Civil Rights Act and California’s education code, all of which require that the school, which receives state funding, ensure all people have equal rights and opportunities to programs and activities on campus.

“Life West’s deliberate indifference caused [the women] to miss classes and practices, lose out on professional opportunities, suffer adverse physical and mental health impacts, and spend their days in fear as they encountered their assailant in a position of power and authority on campus,” the suit alleges.

The women are seeking damages and injunctive relief from the school and Stewart, who is accused of sexual battery, emotional distress and malpractice. The school has 30 days to file a response to the complaint.