Former Bloomfield HS student was expelled after teacher sexually assaulted him, says suit – NorthJersey.com

A former Bloomfield High School student is claiming the district “improperly removed” him from the school after he was sexually assaulted by a former teacher and cross-country coach.

The now 19-year-old man filed a lawsuit against the Bloomfield Board of Education, the high school and three administrators on Oct. 2, saying he had been removed because of behavioral problems. The suit states the problems were “caused or contributed toby the victimization” of the student by coach Leo Donaldson.

Before graduation, the victim had meetings with Christopher Jennings, the Bloomfield High School principal, Kathleen Gebhardt, a school psychologist, and Cindy Sherman, a guidance counselor, to talk about his standing at the school, the suit says.

“The actions of [the] defendants in improperly removing [the victim] as a student from Bloomfield High School directly and proximately caused him great emotional distress, embarrassment, harassment, discrimination and other injuries,” the lawsuit says.

The victim said in the suit he has suffered “severe and permanent personal and emotional injuries” from the sexual assault and he can no longer go about a normal routine, lost his quality of life, has health care expenses and has “otherwise been injured.”

In July 2018, Donaldson was sentenced to seven years in prison for sexually assaulting two former students at his home in Bloomfield and former residence in Jersey City between 2015 and 2016. He must serve 85 percent of his sentence before he is eligible for parole. Donaldson had his teaching license suspended in April. He is being housed at the Adult Diagnostic & Treatment Center in Woodbridge.

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The lawsuit alleges that the Board of Education, the high school, Jennings, Gebhardt and Sherman should have known that Donaldson was “not properly qualified” to be a track coach and teacher and that he had a “propensity for sexual contact and/or sexual abuse of students” and they were negligent with his hiring and continued employment.

The Bloomfield Board of Education attorney did not respond to requests for comment.

This is the second lawsuit filed against the Bloomfield Board of Education and school in regard to Donaldson. In February 2018, a lawsuit was filed by an unidentified student against Donaldson, his husband Bradley Donaldson, the high school and the school board, alleging he and other members of the cross-country team were forced to remove their clothes and play “inappropriate and sexual games.”

The suit also claims the district and Board of Education should have known about Donaldson’s “immoral and unlawful sexual activities” and covered up the former coach’s assaults.

According to court documents, the lawsuit had not been resolved as of Friday.

Bradley Donaldson was charged with endangering the welfare of a child but is completing a 36-month Pre-Trial Intervention program, said Kathy Carter, spokeswoman for the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office. If Bradley Donaldson successfully completes the program, the charge filed against him will be dropped, Carter said.

Email: kanzler@northjersey.com

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