Camden school board president’s legal fees will cost the district more than $220,000 from civil sex abuse case

The lawyer for Camden school advisory board president Wasim Muhammad has billed the district $221,236.50 for his legal fees to defend him in a civil case by a former student accusing him of sexually abusing her when he was her teacher 30 years ago.

Invoices obtained by The Inquirer under the state’s Open Public Records Act show the expenses incurred by Troy Archie, a Cinnaminson-based lawyer, for representing Muhammad, his former Camden High classmate.

The fees stem from a three-year legal battle resulting from the lawsuit filed against Muhammad and the district by Salema Robinson, his former student at Cooper B. Hatch Middle School. The case went to trial in Superior Court during the spring, and the six-member jury concluded in May that Muhammad “recklessly or intentionally committed extreme and outrageous conduct” upon Robinson, but rejected her sexual assault and battery allegations against the Muslim minister. It found Muhammad and the district liable on five counts.

The jury awarded her $1.6 million in compensatory damages, but that was increased to $2 million under a later settlement between Robinson, Muhammad, and the school district. The settlement negated a punitive phase of the trial, which could have yielded a higher amount. Both sides said they wanted to avoid a prolonged appeal.

Before the trial, an arbitrator recommended a $1 million settlement, but that was rejected by all parties.

» READ MORE: The Wasim Muhammad sex abuse case verdict explained

The bulk of the final judgment, $1.5 million, was paid by the district’s insurance carrier. But the district paid $500,000 from its fiscal 2023-24 operating budget to Jeffrey Fritz, Robinson’s attorney, which was included as part of the settlement, and the more than $220,000 for Archie. The district will also pay legal fees to its own firm, Andersen & Shah. As of May, the district had incurred about $89,000 in legal fees, but a final dollar amount was not immediately available.

That brings the school district’s cost to more than $800,000.

Although the jury said Muhammad should be held responsible for 40% of the verdict, Muhammad, 56, did not incur any expenses in the case. Because Muhammad was an employee at the time of the alleged sexual activity, he is entitled to indemnification with the district covering his legal fees.

Camden, a state-operated district largely funded by state and federal taxpayers, paid the $500,000 to Fritz from its legal judgment fund in the budget, records show. For the period ending June 30, the district paid out $548,882 for seven judgments against the school system. The Muhammad judgment was the largest.

Theo Spencer, a former board member who plans to launch a recall petition to oust Muhammad, said he was not surprised by the legal fees.

“I don’t know what there is to say,” Spencer said. “Wasim Muhammad is the gift that keeps on giving.”

Under the agreement, Muhammad made no admission of any wrongdoing. Community activists have staged protests, demanding his resignation from the board. Muhammad has indicated that he would not step down.