Ortega

A teacher employed by defendant Pajaro Valley Unified School District (District) sexually molested a student, plaintiff Mona Lisa Ortega (Mona Lisa), in 1986. The same teacher molested another student, plaintiff Victoria Manley (Victoria), in 1988 and 1989. Neither student filed governmental claims with the District until 1993, the same year they filed the instant action. The trial court ruled in pretrial motions that the plaintiffs' [1] action was time barred unless the factfinder found that the District was equitably estopped to assert its late claim, claim notice and statute of limitations defenses.

Following a three-week jury trial, the jury determined that the District was equitably estopped from claiming these defenses. It further found that the District was 100 percent responsible for plaintiffs' injuries and that the amount of plaintiffs' damages was $4,312,500. On appeal, the District argues that (1) the evidence was insufficient to support the application of equitable estoppel, (2) the allocation of 100 percent fault to the District and none to the molester was not supported by the evidence, and (3) the damages were excessive.

We agree that the…