Lawyer Says Lawsuit Against Daycare ‘Continuing Pattern of Misplaced Anger’: Letter to the Editor

The following is a letter to the editor from Mark Zausmer, an attorney with Zausmer, Kaufman, August & Caldwell, P.C., who represented the Gateway Country Day School:

The recent posting – Families Settle with Daycare after Molestation Allegations – on this site regarding the lawsuit filed by two families is part of a continuing pattern of misplaced anger by greedy and litigious families.

The statement  that this case was settled because of damaging testimony of a police officer is untrue. The officer’s testimony was not at all troublesome or surprising  to Gateway.  

On cross examination the officer testified to numerous acts of cooperation by Gateway. Moreover, it was undisputed that Gateway reported these allegations to State authorities immediately as required by law.

The statement by the parents’ attorney that the childrens’ stories “remained constant” would almost be funny if this matter was not so serious. On multiple occasions the children repeatedly denied that they were touched and on the few occasions in which they said anything happened their stories differed each time they spoke.

An example of the lies in this case is that one of the girls said that she told three teachers and two other students that this happened. All three adult teachers testified that the child lied about this and neither of the children corroborated the alleged victim’s claims.

The police officer who testified confirmed these lies. This case had no merit. It was pursued by parents who are part of a litigious culture in our society and it was settled to avoid years of expensive litigation for Gateway.

Gateway simply wanted to get on with the business of caring for children as it has for many years.

–  Mark Zausmer