SLO school district says it’s not liable for sexual harassment by former basketball coach
The San Luis Coastal Unified School District cannot be held liable for sexual harassment, it claimed in a recent court filing in the lawsuit against the district and former San Luis Obispo High School basketball coach Jeff Brandow.
The initial lawsuit was filed in November by a student who says she was sexually harassed by Brandow. The lawsuit alleged the district ignored a pattern of inappropriate behavior by Brandow that had been occurring since at least 2014. That behavior eventually led to the student being “targeted” and sexually harassed, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit followed Brandow’s firing from the school in August. He was placed on administrative leave in March, five months after the district learned of the allegations, Superintendent Eric Prater told The Tribune in July.
After the school district learned of the student’s allegations in October 2022, Brandow continued teaching and coached the boys basketball team to a league championship. He was originally hired about a decade ago to be the high school’s athletic director until Marci Beddall replaced him in 2020.
According to the lawsuit, the student is a victim of grooming, manipulation, intimidation and unwanted physical touching.
She sued both San Luis Coastal Unified School District and Brandow for intentional infliction of emotional distress, sexual harassment, negligent hiring, supervision and retention of an unfit employee and negligent supervision of a minor.
In a January court filing, the district argued the emotional distress and sexual harassment claims should be dismissed.
“School districts cannot be held directly liable for sexual misconduct,” the filing said.
It added that public entities cannot be held directly liable for emotional distress.
According to the filing, the lawsuit falsely connects the former student’s emotional distress with the district’s alleged failure to take meaningful action to Brandow’s inappropriate behavior.
“(The former student) is essentially trying to back door a claim for sexual abuse against the district, something she is prohibited in doing,” the filing said.
The filing cited multiple court cases that found districts could be held liable for negligent hiring, retention or supervision but could not be held liable for sexual abuse or misconduct itself.
Student’s mother responds to district
Amber Wilkerson, the mother of the student who is suing the district and Brandow, said the district’s response was not a surprise.
“There has been no accountability regarding Jeff Brandow’s behavior for the last decade,” Wilkerson said.
She said the district stating they are not responsible for Brandow’s sexual harassment toward their daughter concerns her as a teacher and parent.
“Jeff Brandow stated to my daughter, ‘It must be tits out, ass out day,’” Wilkerson said. “We should be concerned that the district views this as ‘not sufficient’ in addition to other evidence presented.”
“The district was aware of Jeff Brandow’s behavior. Leslie O’Connor knew, Rollin Dickinson knew, Desiree Dellinger knew,” she said. “As for not having to be accountable for the emotional distress this has caused our daughter and our family ... there are no words. Shame on them.”
She also claimed that San Luis Coastal Unified School District Superintendent Eric Prater routinely took complaints regarding conduct by Brandow and former principal Leslie O’Connor.
A case management conference is scheduled for April 8. The issue of whether the district is liable for sexual harassment will be heard on June 27 and July 3.
