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FARMINGTON — One of the three students who allegedly had sexual relations with a former Davis High School teacher claims the district should have done a better job screening prospective employers and providing better training.
The student, his parents and his attorneys have filed a civil lawsuit against the Davis School District. They are seeking at least $674,000 in damages.
The student is one of three teens who say they had sex with former Davis High English teacher Brianne Altice. The boys were 16 and 17 at the time. Altice, 35, is charged with 14 felonies, including rape, forcible sodomy, forcible sexual abuse, unlawful sexual activity with a minor and dealing in materials harmful to a minor.
A notice was filed with the district in January by the student's parents on behalf of their son announcing their intent to sue if a settlement was not reached. They claimed that because of the district's negligence, their son suffered "severe psychological and/or physical injury, mental pain and experiences emotional anguish," according to the lawsuit.
The student has "incurred substantial medical treatment" due to his interaction with Altice, court records state.
In his lawsuit, the teen asserts that the district should have known that Altice was "terminated from former employment due to sexual misconduct."
The suit also states that the district had already "on at least one occasion, reprimanded Ms. Altice after seeing photographs of her having inappropriate contact with student," but district officials failed to take sufficient action, the lawsuit states.
The plaintiff further contends that the Davis School District was negligent by failing to "adequately train, retrain, and/or supervise its employees" by hiring "an employee whom the district knew or should have known was unfit to be a teacher and posed a risk to students" and by retaining "a teacher who was engaging in inappropriate behavior with students."
Both the student's attorneys and the school district declined comment.
Altice is scheduled to be back in court Monday for a motion hearing on her criminal charges.
