A school board in Cumberland County agreed last month to pay a $150,000 settlement to a former student who accused the district of not stopping an eighth grade English teacher from sending thousands of inappropriate emails to her.
The case involved Richard F. Super, who taught at Rossi Intermediate School in Vineland, until he was accused of sending inappropriate communications to with the female student during the 2015-2016 school year.
The then 13-year-old student was enrolled in the Special Education Program and was taught by Super.
Investigators found nearly 4,600 emails on the school district server that the pair exchanged over a two-month period. The messages, which were often sexual in nature, included bringing her breakfast, sitting with her at lunch and giving her extra attention during class, the suit stated.
The conduct came to light when a teacher noticed the student typing vigorously on a school-issued laptop during class and clearly not paying attention. She would close the laptop when teachers approached, the suit noted. Communications with Super were discovered when the laptop was evaluated by the IT department.
Super's behavior lasted from late March until early June 2016, when he was arrested.
He was originally charged with endangering the welfare of a child, but pleaded guilty in 2017 to a charge of fourth-degree cruelty and neglect to children, and was sentenced to two years of probation. He also lost his teaching license.
The suit accused the district of failing to use its own email monitoring software that could have flagged inappropriate language used in many of the messages.
The suit also alleged the board and staff members violated the state Law Against Discrimination by depriving the student of an education while subjecting her to abuse, and of negligence for failing to properly train and supervise staff in appropriate student-teacher relations.
The former student claimed in the suit that she suffered "severe and permanent emotional, psychological, and physical injuries, including, but not limited to, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, embarrassment, and humiliation."
The suit sought compensatory and punitive damages for physical, emotional, psychological and financial damages.
U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler said at the time that the plaintiff hadn't demonstrated the defendants "knew of conduct that pointed plainly toward the conclusion that Super was sexually abusing Plaintiff."