ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A federal judge has sanctioned Virginia’s largest school system for destroying or failing to preserve documents relevant to a lawsuit accusing school officials of ignoring a girl’s claim she was sexually assaulted.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Nachmanoff imposed the sanctions Friday on the Fairfax County School Board as it prepares to defend its actions in a trial scheduled for next month.
An Oakton High School student says she was sexually assaulted on a bus by a male student on a 2017 band trip. The lawsuit alleges the school system failed to take the girl’s allegation seriously.
The judge said the school system either destroyed or failed to preserve relevant notes and text messages from their investigation even though it knew it was required to retain them.
