Following a years-long legal battle, a Santa Clara County Superior Court jury sided with the Palo Alto Unified School District on Tuesday, rejecting former Palo Alto High School robotics coach Kathleen Krier’s claims of discrimination and harassment.
Although not currently public in documents provided by the Santa Clara County Superior Court, Krier’s attorney, Frank Zeccola, confirmed to The Paly Voice that the district won the verdict. But this does not mean the case is over entirely.
According to the Santa Clara County Superior Court, PAUSD attorneys must prepare a final judgement document to be approved by Krier. If both sides do not agree on the judgement, a hearing will be scheduled for May 22 where each side will submit their own version of the judgment for the judge to decide on.
According to Krier’s legal team, Krier alleged that district administrators failed to protect Krier from incidents of harassment tied to her gender expression and sexual orientation while she worked as a robotics coach.
“The District permitted students and Boosters wide autonomy to target Ms. Krier for increasingly venomous harassment, discrimination, and retaliation without intervention,” Krier’s defense attorneys stated.
The district alleged that it did not overlook Krier’s complaints.
“The District acknowledges that some conduct of students and parent Boosters may have been inappropriate, but disputes that its responses constituted deliberate indifference,” district defense attorneys stated.
This is a developing story. Check back with The Paly Voice for updates.
