LOCKPORT – The Catholic Diocese of Buffalo will pay a settlement to resolve a lawsuit filed by two women who said they were harassed by a teacher at St. Dominic Savio Middle School in Niagara Falls between 2002 and 2004.
Steven M. Cohen, lead attorney for Amanda Gill and Noelle Gonzalez, said State Supreme Court Justice Richard C. Kloch Sr., who presided over a nonjury trial that began Monday, imposed a gag order on the attorneys.
Cohen said the settlement reached late Monday was “satisfactory to both parties.”
Attorneys for the diocese, the Niagara Falls Catholic School network and the school itself have not returned calls seeking comment.
Gill and Gonzalez, both now 22, sued in 2008 to protest not only the actions of teacher Christian Butler, who went to prison for possession of child pornography on his school computer and for two counts of child endangerment.
Gonzalez testified Monday that students thought Butler was “creepy” and that students complained about him to other teachers.
The principal at the time, Patricia Muscatello, was accused by Cohen in his opening statement of blocking action on any complaints.
Had the trial continued, Gill and another former student, Vanessa DeRosa, who was not a party to the lawsuit, were expected to testify in greater detail about Butler’s actions and about the fruitless complaints.
Kloch had said even before Gonzalez took the stand that her alleged damages were “de minimum,” a legal term meaning “minimal.”
However, Gill was the more severely impacted, Cohen said in court.
Gonzalez’s father, Remi Gonzalez, also probably would have testified on the diocesan response, but after a few questions, his testimony was interrupted by a lunch break, and he never did return to the stand.
Kloch said in court that the attorneys were discussing “confidential evidentiary matters” in his chambers.
Attorneys for the diocese and the school protested Cohen’s plan to call DeRosa to the witness stand even though she had not given a pretrial deposition. John M. Visco, attorney for the Niagara Falls Catholic School Network, said it could have resulted in a mistrial.
He also objected in a similar way to a statement by Cohen that when the Rev. Stewart Lindsay, the canonical administrator of the school, met with DeRosa about Butler, “he stuck his fingers in his ears and went, ‘La-la-la-la-la.’ ”
Visco called that statement “categorically false.”
email: tprohaska@buffnews.com
Steven M. Cohen, lead attorney for Amanda Gill and Noelle Gonzalez, said State Supreme Court Justice Richard C. Kloch Sr., who presided over a nonjury trial that began Monday, imposed a gag order on the attorneys.
Cohen said the settlement reached late Monday was “satisfactory to both parties.”
Attorneys for the diocese, the Niagara Falls Catholic School network and the school itself have not returned calls seeking comment.
Gill and Gonzalez, both now 22, sued in 2008 to protest not only the actions of teacher Christian Butler, who went to prison for possession of child pornography on his school computer and for two counts of child endangerment.
Gonzalez testified Monday that students thought Butler was “creepy” and that students complained about him to other teachers.
The principal at the time, Patricia Muscatello, was accused by Cohen in his opening statement of blocking action on any complaints.
Had the trial continued, Gill and another former student, Vanessa DeRosa, who was not a party to the lawsuit, were expected to testify in greater detail about Butler’s actions and about the fruitless complaints.
Kloch had said even before Gonzalez took the stand that her alleged damages were “de minimum,” a legal term meaning “minimal.”
However, Gill was the more severely impacted, Cohen said in court.
Gonzalez’s father, Remi Gonzalez, also probably would have testified on the diocesan response, but after a few questions, his testimony was interrupted by a lunch break, and he never did return to the stand.
Kloch said in court that the attorneys were discussing “confidential evidentiary matters” in his chambers.
Attorneys for the diocese and the school protested Cohen’s plan to call DeRosa to the witness stand even though she had not given a pretrial deposition. John M. Visco, attorney for the Niagara Falls Catholic School Network, said it could have resulted in a mistrial.
He also objected in a similar way to a statement by Cohen that when the Rev. Stewart Lindsay, the canonical administrator of the school, met with DeRosa about Butler, “he stuck his fingers in his ears and went, ‘La-la-la-la-la.’ ”
Visco called that statement “categorically false.”
email: tprohaska@buffnews.com