California to Pay $14 Million to Former Student Abused at Deaf School in Fremont

The state of California will pay $14 million in a settlement involving a former student at the California School for the Deaf in Fremont, who allegedly endured years of abuse at the hands of a former employee.

The plaintiff, whose identity has been concealed, was enrolled at the California School for the Deaf Fremont, or CSDF, between 2009 and 2011. The state-funded boarding school serves about 400 deaf and hard-of-hearing students, ages 3 to 21, from 46 counties across California.

Doe filed a lawsuit in 2018, alleging that former employee Ricardo Rose abused him in his dorm room, beginning when Doe was 10 years old.

One of Doe’s attorneys, Dave Ring, said Rose had a history of complaints from students and staff for inappropriate behavior. Although Rose had no criminal record at the time of his hiring over 30 years ago, Ring said concerns about his conduct grew over time.

“A huge part of the problem is that the school had prior problems with this perpetrator,” Ring said. “They had had prior complaints from both students and from staff about his misconduct and behavior.”

Ring said one staff member felt that Rose “was harassing her and she was actually afraid of him.”

“She actually refused to work around him because she was in fear of him,” Ring said. “This was not some model employee.”

Despite repeated red flags, the school issued restrictions rather than asserting a zero-tolerance policy and removing Rose. One such restriction, Ring said, was that “he was not supposed to be anywhere near the bungalows after normal school hours, and yet he continued to go over there.”

“We’re talking about serious misconduct and serious complaints about boundary issues, about interactions with kids, about sexual harassment — and yet they don’t fire him,” Ring continued.

According to Ring, Rose, who is also deaf, threatened to “bite Doe’s fingers off” if he revealed the abuse to anyone, and at times choked him in his own dorm bed.

In 2011, after over two years of alleged abuse, Doe begged his parents to withdraw him from the school, though he didn’t explain why. It would be another seven years — once Doe turned 18 years old — before he came forward as an adult to report the abuse.

California’s expanded statute of limitations allows victims more time to bring forward abuse claims. After the police investigated Doe’s claims, the California Highway Patrol arrested Rose in the Hayward area on charges of child molestation and criminal threats.

Ring said the $14 million settlement is the largest the state has ever paid to a single survivor of sexual abuse.

“I know that there are other victims of this perpetrator,” Ring said, emphasizing his concern that Rose is not in custody. “If they haven’t come forward already, I would urge them to do so.”

In a statement, Liz Sanders, director of communications for the California Department of Education, said, “Student safety remains a top priority” for both the department and the state’s special schools, including the CSDF.

“Since learning of these incidents, CSDF has taken additional protective measures for students,” Sanders said.

Increasing residential staffing and providing additional training for residential staff are two of those actions, according to Sanders. She said the school has also “expanded monitoring capabilities” throughout the campus to help “ensure safe, supportive learning environments for current and future students.”

The CSDF did not respond to requests for comment.

Although the experience was deeply traumatizing for Doe, Ring said his client has been in therapy and the litigation did provide a sense of closure.

“It empowered him,” Ring said. “He made a difference, and they acknowledged that he had been seriously harmed. So all things considered, he is in a good spot right now.”