Camden school district has asked judge to overturn jury’s $1.6 million verdict against board president

The Camden City School District has asked a judge to overturn a jury’s $1.6 million sex abuse verdict against advisory board President Wasim Muhammad and the school system.

In a nearly 1,000-pagecourt filing on Monday, lawyers for the district argued in part that the May 14 jury decision was inconsistent and legally unsupported because jurors rejected claims that the former middle school teacher sexually abusedhis former student when she was under 18, but found the district liable for “willful misconduct” and negligence in supervising Muhammad.

“Without a finding of sexual abuse, there are simply no facts on which to predicate those claims,” board lawyer Jessica Anderson wrote.

She asked Superior Court Judge John Kennedy to vacate the jury award and dismiss all claims against the school system. Barring that, the judge should order a new trial, she said.

Jeffrey P. Fritz, who represented the plaintiff, named Jane Doe in her lawsuit, said the defense motion was expected. He has 30 days to file a response with the judge.

“We are confident that the jury’s verdict is in full accordance with the law and that the court’s rulings are all legally appropriate,” Fritz said Tuesday. “I am not surprised that the district would seek to undo the jury’s verdict as they have never taken responsibility for their horrific failures.”

Kennedy is expected to render a decision on the latest motion June 20.

In the meantime, the jury is scheduled to reconvene on June 17 to decide whether any punitive damages should be awarded, and if so, who should be required to pay.

» READ MORE: Some were confused by the verdict in the Wasim Muhammad sex abuse case. Here are some questions answered.

Anderson also argued in her motion that punitive damages should not be permitted. Any punitive damages awarded would be incurred by the district directly.

In the lawsuit, Muhammad was accused of sexually abusing Doe when she was a student at Cooper B. Hatch Middle School and he was her seventh-grade social studies teacher. She alleged that they started having sex in 1994, and that he abused her for years, even after she moved with her family to the South.

The jury found that Muhammad, 56, had “recklessly or intentionally committed extreme and outrageous conduct” upon Doe. It found Muhammad and the board liable on five counts.

It also found that the district was negligent in supervising Muhammad, then known as Donnie Walker, and “created or permitted a sexually hostile educational environment,” which caused the plaintiff harm.

Now 45, the former student filed the lawsuit under the New Jersey Child Victims Act, a state law passed in 2019 that allows child sex abuse victims to sue their abusers up until they turn 55. The jury rejected the claim that she was sexually abused.

The lawsuit also alleged that school district employees who knew about the relationship failed to stop it.

Among her allegations, Doe said the two engaged in a threesome with one of his many spiritual Muslim wives, and that he took the plaintiff to a porn theater and forced her to have sex with a stranger while he watched and masturbated.

» READ MORE: Who is Wasim Muhammad, Camden’s school board president accused of sexually abusing a student?

During the trial, Muhammad, a Muslim minister, told the jury that he began a relationship with his former student when she was 18, when they married under his Islamic faith. (She denies that the two were ever married.)

Muhammad said he is legally married to his childhood sweetheart, Stephanie, and currently has four spiritual wives and 17 children.

In the motion filed Monday, Anderson, the school board lawyer, said the jury should have not been allowed to consider a claim in the case under New Jersey’s law against discrimination.

She also contended that the jury of four men and two women was given improper instructions. The jury deliberated for about 5½ hours over two days. Anderson could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Although the jury found the district 60% liable and Muhammad 40% liable, the Camden school district will be responsible for the entire amount if the verdict is upheld. Muhammad may also seek to have his legal fees paid.

Fritz, Doe’s attorney, filed a request this week to recoup nearly $600,000 in attorney fees, costs and interest. If the judge grants a request to enhance those fees, the bill could total about $1 million, he said.