Porter-Gaud Abuse Suits Settled Out of Court
Posted Courtesy of The Post and Courier (http://www.charleston.net)
Published on 11/14/00
BY TONY BARTELME
Of The Post and Courier Staff
Porter-Gaud School and the estates of two former school leaders agreed Thursday to settle nine lawsuits out of court for what was described as a "substantial" amount of money, ending an emotional two-year court battle that led to a principal's suicide and shined a spotlight on the issue of how schools handle teachers accused of abusing students.
The deal came two weeks after a jury hit Porter-Gaud, one of Charleston's most prestigious private schools, with a record $105 million verdict, and four days before another case was scheduled to be tried. The agreement includes the winners in last month's trial, precluding a protracted fight over collecting the record-breaking jury award.
Thursday's settlement included several conditions:
- The school agreed to set up a counseling fund for victims of Eddie Fischer, a former Porter-Gaud teacher who molested dozens of students.
- The school said it would issue a public apology and a statement that neither Fischer's victims nor their parents were responsible in any way for the sexual abuse.
- The school also will disclose procedures and programs designed to prevent sexual abuse in the future.
The monetary settlement was confidential. But Gregg Meyers, a lawyer for some of Fischer's victims, said the agreement "resolves a $105 million judgment, and we weren't prepared to do that lightly."
Meyers added that his clients didn't want to bankrupt the school's insurance company. "We asked the jury for a substantial verdict, and we got one. Now we have a very substantial settlement."
Attorneys for Porter-Gaud declined to comment.
The deal was announced Thursday morning during a hearing before Circuit Judge Daniel Pieper, who presided over the recent trial.
Describing the cases as "long, emotional and challenging," Pieper commended Porter-Gaud for agreeing to do something to help Fischer's victims.
"I believe it is the moral thing to do," Pieper said.
Going public
The settlement marks what could be the final chapter in a story that shook up the community - about how secrecy helped a pedophile harm dozens of boys.
It began with Guerry Glover, a former Porter-Gaud student who was molested by Fischer in the 1970s and early 1980s.
As Glover came to terms with his emotional wounds, he approached Porter-Gaud leaders in 1986, 1994 and 1997- each time hoping they would help him stop Fischer from hurting other boys.
Each time he was rebuffed.
Glover's frustration and anger grew, finally outweighing his fear about going public. In October 1997, he went to police. Fischer was arrested a few days later.
As news of Fischer's arrest spread, a common refrain from his former students was that "everyone knew about Fischer."Some said he was known as "Sweet Eddie." Others said that when Fischer was a coach, he would often tell boys to "drop their drawers" if they came to him with an illness or a minor injury.
As one Porter-Gaud student said in a 1998 interview with The Post and Courier, "There is a large segment of people who live in downtown Charleston, who work with each other every day and share a common secret that they're desperately trying to hide."
But other victims soon came forward, and Fischer eventually pleaded guilty to abusing 13 boys over a four-decade span and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He would admit later in a deposition that he probably molested more than 40 boys.
After Fischer's guilty plea, attention shifted to lawsuits filed against Porter-Gaud by his victims.
Many said Fischer could have been stopped at Porter-Gaud, where Fischer himself said his sexual abuse was "an epidemic."
For instance, in 1973 - a year after the school hired Fischer - a student complained that Fischer made a sexual advance. Before his death last year, longtime headmaster Berkeley Grimball said in a sworn deposition that he put Fischer on probation.
But in last month's trial, evidence showed that instead of restricting or monitoring Fischer's actions, the school made him the official "disciplinarian," giving him more access to children.
Helping Fischer
Perhaps the most surprising claims in the legal battles centered on Porter-Gaud's upper-school principal, James Bishop Alexander.
Alexander committed suicide in 1998, several days before he was to give a sworn deposition in the case. He cited the litigation in a suicide note as the reason he chose to end his life, according to court documents.
Affectionately called "the Maj" at Porter-Gaud, Alexander was a well-respected educator known for helping troubled young men. In previous interviews, several former students said Alexander turned their lives around with his generosity and kindness.
But during last month's trial, a former student said Alexander began molesting him in the eighth grade. Another student testified that one night in 1979, he woke up in Fischer's bed and saw Alexander and Fischer standing at the door looking at him.
In 1982, parents of another boy found out Fischer abused their son. The parents told Alexander and said they were thinking about calling the police. Fischer was allowed to resign.
A month later, however, Alexander helped Fischer get a job at College Prep, another private school in Charleston. And in 1986, Alexander wrote a positive recommendation for Fischer when Fischer applied for a job at James Island High School.
Alexander didn't stop Fischer, "because he was doing the same thing to kids," David Flowers, a lawyer representing Fischer's victims, told the jury during last month's trial.
Throughout the litigation, the school's attorneys denied that the school did anything wrong and that the victims and their parents were partially to blame for the abuse.
This stance infuriated other victims who eventually decided to file their own lawsuits.
Thirteen cases eventually were filed. Four were settled out of court.
Record verdict
Last month's trial was the first time a jury had a chance to hear the evidence.
Guerry Glover's father, Harold, a tomato farmer from John's Island, was the plaintiff.
When it was all over, the jury's verdict of $105 million in actual and punitive damages was the most ever for a case heard in the Charleston County Court of Common Pleas. After the trial, one juror said "kids need to be protected, and things like this shouldn't be swept under the carpet."
That verdict set the stage for Thursday's settlement.
Meyers and Flowers knew that their clients would never collect $105 million.
One reason: The state's charitable immunity law says that people suing tax-exempt organizations like Porter-Gaud can only collect $250,000. The estates of Grimball and Alexander were said to be worth about $2 million. While the school's insurance company, The Church Insurance Co. of New York, probably covered some of the judgment, "we felt like we exhausted their ability to pay," Meyers said.
Flowers added that the victims in the case had accomplished most of their goals, which had nothing to do with money. The victims wanted Fischer out of teaching, in jail and their stories told, he said. They wanted Porter-Gaud's "arrogance displayed and defeated."
Glover and several other victims had urged Porter-Gaud to quietly settle the matter for years. In 1997, Glover suggested the school set up a counseling fund. In response, a school attorney called the 9th Circuit Solicitor's office, asking whether Glover's suggestions constituted criminal extortion.
Two years ago, Fischer's victims proposed to settle all the cases for $4 million to $6 million, said Shaw Simpson, one of Fischer's victims, in comments after last month's trial.
Meyers said Thursday's settlement was "above and beyond" earlier settlement offers.
Money will be distributed to Fischer's victims, several parents who sued and possibly others involved in the litigation.
The counseling fund will be set up through the Medical University of South Carolina. The school will put $50,000 in the fund next year. If those funds are used, the school will replenish the fund with another $50,000 in 2002.
The fund's primary purpose is to help victims of Fischer, especially those who have yet to come forward, Meyers said. "All they have to do is show up."
Meyers, a member of the Charleston County School Board, said the litigation showed educators that, "it's more expensive to be careless than careful," and that "if you have a business where children are your customers, you better be doing everything you can to make sure they are safe."
The legal battles have had "a tremendous impact on the area," said Elizabeth Ralston, director of the Lowcountry Children's Center.
Child sexual abuse is a topic many people like to ignore, she said.
"But as I go out and about, people all over want to talk about this, which is wonderful. If we're going to protect kids today or kids who have been abused in the past, we have to talk about it and believe them."
Tony Bartelme can be reached at 937-5554 or bartelme@postandcourier.com
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