The attorneys at Kenny, O'Keefe & Usseglio, P.C., a Hartford law firm, have announced that a lawsuit against a former Connecticut school teacher and his employer school district has been settled on the eve of trial.  The lawsuit was brought against the teacher by one of his former students.  The suit, filed in Middlesex Superior Court, details that the teacher started abusing the girl when she was twelve years old.  The abuse continued for a number of years. The lawsuit also claims that the school district was put on notice of the abuse and they failed to do anything to protect the student from her teacher's abuse. 

The case was vigorously defended by the teacher and the school district and involved years of litigation which included a number of motions and depositions.  There were also a number of complex legal and insurance coverage issues involved.  The defendants claimed in court that they should be immune from being held responsible for the woman's damages.  Attorneys for the woman, Richard Kenny, Karen Clark and Garrett O'Keefe, were able to convince the court that the defendants should be held legally responsible to answer to the woman's claims.  Once this occurred, the defendants agreed to submit the case to the Honorable Robert L. Holzberg for mediation.  The case was then successfully settled with Judge Holzberg's assistance. 

The parties agreed to keep the amount of the settlement confidential.