SANTA CLARA — Dominic Caserta, a former Santa Clara councilman, is suing that city’s school district for damaging his reputation by accidentally sending an email to all district employees and the press containing his personnel file and students’ sexual harassment allegations against him since 2002.
Caserta’s campaign for county supervisor unraveled last year after a Santa Clara Unified School District employee, Nora Dipko, mistakenly sent Caserta’s file to the entire district, creating a “Witch Trial atmosphere” that would “destroy Caserta’s life almost overnight,” the lawsuit claims.
“The unprofessional handling of my confidential files was devastating — devastating to my reputation, to my livelihood, to my political career (in particular my campaign for County Supervisor), and to my well-being,” Caserta said in a written statement released by his lawyer Wednesday. “Even after they distributed my confidential files the district continues to make public comments that are harmful.”
Caserta’s suit alleges the district was negligent and intentionally gave him emotional distress when Dipko emailed his file and, and another employee, Gina Perez, forwarded the email to a local journalist. He’s requesting an unspecified amount in punitive monetary damages from the court.
The actions of those two employees and others were part of “an extra-legal ‘guerrilla’ campaign to encourage public castigation of Caserta and to end his careers in education and politics,” the lawsuit claims.
The allegations against Caserta emerged a month before a June primary election for county supervisor. He ultimately resigned from the Santa Clara City Council and suspended his supervisor campaign after a number of high-profile groups pulled their support.
Caserta, a high school civics teacher, is on paid leave pending an investigation by the school district, according to Assistant Superintendent Andrew Lucia.
“The lawsuit was filed with the court on April 30, 2019 but has not yet been served on the district,” Lucia said in an email. “However, with all pending litigation, we are not able to disclose information about the case.”
Caserta was placed on leave by De Anza Community College and Foothill College, where he taught classes, and was forced to resign from the Santa Clara County Democratic Central Committee, according to the lawsuit. He says he is unable to find “lucrative work” as as a consultant.
The emails showed multiple students had accused Caserta of sexual harassment as early as 2002, including one who alleged he ran his hands through her hair and told her he had an erection.
Following the release of the email, the news website San Jose Inside also reported allegations by Lydia Jungkind, a former student at Foothill College and campaign volunteer, who accused Caserta of making inappropriate comments and gestures and giving her an unwanted massage. A campaign staffer, Ian Crueldad, said Caserta walked around his campaign headquarters — based out of his house — in just a towel.
One student, Savannah Nunez, publicly accused Caserta of stalking her when she was a senior in high school and claimed the district did nothing about her complaint. Nunez said Caserta repeatedly called her cellphone, stalked her at work and once visited her home to ask why she wasn’t answering his calls.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office said in August it would not be filing criminal charges against Caserta because there isn’t enough evidence.
Contact Thy Vo at 408-200-1055 or tvo@bayareanewsgroup.com.
