Insurer Says No to Covering School District Sexual Abuse Lawsuit

October 1, 2008

The insurer of the Unit 5 school district in Urbana, Ill. is balking at providing coverage in connection with a sexual abuse lawsuit.

Cincinnati Insurance contends in a federal lawsuit that an Urbana student identified as Jane Doe-2 and her mother are not entitled to coverage under the Unit 5 policy.

The Urbana school district and former school teacher Jon White face several lawsuits related to White’s molestation of students while he was an elementary teacher in Normal and Urbana. White pleaded guilty in February to sexually abusing eight girls at the Thomas Paine Elementary School in Urbana and two at Colene Hoose Elementary School in Normal.

The insurance company’s lawsuit contends the policy provisions protecting the district from sexual misconduct allegations were not in effect when White taught at Hoose from 2003 to 2005.

The lawsuit also says Unit 5 officials knew of White’s sexual misconduct prior to 2005 and 2006 when coverage existed.

Information from: The Pantagraph, http://www.pantagraph.com

Topics Lawsuits Carriers Education

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