The Palo Alto Unified School District on Thursday (March 12) released the settlement agreement in which it agreed to pay $3.25 million to middle school PE teacher Peter Colombo after he had been falsely accused of sexually assaulting a student in the 2001-02 school year.
Here is a link to the settlement.
The Daily Post first reported on Feb. 14 that the district had agreed to the settlement, but district officials and Colombo’s attorney refused to release the actual settlement document.
The Post made a number of requests for the document and filed requests citing the Brown Act and the California Public Information Act. The request was fulfilled Thursday (March 12).
The Brown Act, the state law that regulates government meetings, required the district to release the document immediately after it was approved. The school board approved the document on Feb. 10, meaning it should have been available to the public following the Feb. 10 school board meeting.
The document had the signatures of then-Superintendent Don Austin, then-chief of staff Trent Bahadursingh, then-HR Director Lisa Hickey and a signature line for “Palo Alto Unified School District,” without naming a person who would sign for the district.
A few days after the school board approved the settlement, Austin stepped down in what was described as a “mutual agreement.” He has been replaced on a temporary basis by Bahadursingh.
Among the claims in Colombo’s lawsuit was that the district botched the investigation into the alleged sex assault, denying him of his due process rights.
The settlement document says:
• Colombo cannot return to school district property and he cannot serve as a coach, regardless of whether he is paid or unpaid. In addition to his job as a middle school PE teacher, he had been a coach at Palo Alto High School.
• Colombo agrees not to sue current or former school board members, but it only identifies one member by name, Ken Dauber, who served on the board from November 2014 until November 2022. However, in his lawsuit, Colombo said he was the target of a conspiracy by a handful of individuals including Dauber’s wife, Stanford law school professor and activist Michele.
School district officials refused to say how much they agreed to pay Colombo to settle the suit. But on Feb. 14, the Post checked the website of Colombo’s attorney, Evan C. Nelson of Walnut Creek, and the settlement had been added to the page where he lists cases he won.
As usual great investigative work by Dave and again, great job digging for the truth. I just cannot believe the amount and only one plaintiff. The girls from nearby Castilela got around 2 million dollars and their were several plaintiffs and they were actually abused. What the heck actually happened with this Colombo deal and I as a tax paying citizen demand to know what went on. I’m hoping Dave sometime soon sits down with Colombo and gets the truth, the absolute facts and truth of what really went on. If it is as bad as it seems lots of people out there, me included, owe this guy a huge apology. What a tragedy for this guy! And the fact he cannot coach again, just tragic!!!
Self governance is not easy because it requires people to get off the bench and into the game. Maybe, this was that incident to provide the kind of spark to enact real change. If the Brown Act & California Public Information Act had to be used to finally get this information, is it possible that there could be more within the PAUSD finances that some or many would find disturbing? Time for the tax payers to demand physical receipts. Lastly, does Ken or Michele Dauber have connections or possibly influence of any other members of the PAUSD BOE? Inquiring minds would like to know……….
The story says, “[the settlement agreement] should have been available to the public following the Feb. 10 school board meeting.”
If that’s true, then PAUSD isn’t abiding by the Brown Act or CPRA, so “had to be used” doesn’t really describe the situation.
Woodlandia, you have no clue.
As a parent who tried to get one document using the Brown Act, I can tell you from personal experience that Supt Austin and his lieutenants used every trick in the book against me. They violated the law and threatened me, complained to my employer and tried to make my son’s life hell. If you complained to a board member, Austin would lie to the board member. I’m glad Austin is going, but those who enabled him on the board should go.
Luckily for PAUSD many of the other staff members that were harassed, intimidated, belittled, or otherwise mistreated under the Austin regime don’t have the time or resources to sue. The numbers are significant for sure.
Too bad the unions don’t help the teachers with things like this. They’re so busy kissing Austin’s butt that guys like Pete Colombo have to hire their own lawyers.
In the new union contract, the members should demand the elimination of the double paycheck rule — where a union president gets a paycheck from the district and another from the union. Essentially double the regular pay of a teacher. Either that, or the members should invoke the Janus rule.
The CEO of Valley Water mistreated employees and that board granted him more than a year of severance, too. In that case, the union tried to help the employees, but the board still rewarded the bad actor rather than firing him. To continue the pattern, voters will reward the members of both bad boards by reelecting them.
“members should demand the elimination of the double paycheck rule — where a union president gets a paycheck from the district and another from the union. Essentially double the regular pay of a teacher.”
Unless it has changed, I’m pretty sure it’s a split salary agreement. The District pays a percentage and the union pays a percentage based on where union president is on salary schedule. That said, never trust union representation. If you are smart, you will dump your union dues into a personal mutual fund or CD. If ever needed, you can pull it and get a real attorney with experience. CTA uses the least expensive and heavy case loads are common. In my personal encounter and experiences shared by others, they are about as useful as a fast track reader in Modoc county.
I hope the union has woken up. When I went through my ordeal with Austin and his lieutenants the union basically left me on my own. I asked for a union attorney, but got some regional representative instead. I basically had to defend myself and the union brought no weight to bear whatsoever against some really bad actors who simply continued harassing me and others because they knew they could without consequence. Honestly, I was very disappointed and understand 100% why Colombo sought outside counsel. Unfortunately, most PAUSD staff do not have the resources to do so, which is why the union, paid for by members, needs to be more proactive in these types of cases.
Draft minutes in the packet for next week’s regular board meeting show that the board of trustees voted 5-0 to approve both the Colombo settlement and the Austin severance and both votes were reported in open session immediately afterward.
Austin, Bahadursingh, and Hickey were all defendants in Colombo’s lawsuit so that’s why they signed the settlement agreement, not on behalf of the district.
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All this effort to get a document showing how our tax dollars are being spent?! Did Austin, Shounak and the rest of them forget who they are working for?
And now Hickey is coming back to PAUSD to be a elementary school principal? Is this true?
an elementary school Principal? (Sorry about the grammatical error).