Camden Schools has reached a $2 million settlement in Wasim Muhammad’s civil sex abuse case, negating punitive damages

The Camden City School District has reached a $2 million settlement in a civil lawsuit filed against advisory board President Wasim Muhammad by a former student alleging he sexually abused her when he was her teacher, effectively ending the civil sex abuse lawsuit.

After about two weeks’ of negotiations, the agreement was reached Saturday night, said Jeffrey P. Fritz, who represented the plaintiff in the case, identified as Jane Doe, against the school district and Muhammad, now the minister of Muhammad’s Temple No. 20 in Camden.

Under the agreement, the South Jersey school system will withdraw a motion filed June 3 asking Superior Court Judge John Kennedy to overturn a jury’s $1.6 million verdict or order a new trial, Fritz said. Defense lawyers agreed not to seek an appeal, he said.

The settlement essentially added $400,000 to the jury award for a total of $2 million, including lawyer fees and costs, Fritz said, before the six-member jury was scheduled to return to Camden County Hall of Justice Monday morning to decide punitive damages, and if so, who should be required to pay.

”It was not about money. It was about justice and accountability,” the plaintiff said Monday. “This chapter of my story is ending and I can move on.”

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

The settlement will be paid by the school board and its insurance carrier, Muhammad’s lawyer Troy Archie said: $500,000 from the district and $1.5 million through insurance. Muhammad, 56, will not be liable for any of the settlement, and is seeking to recoup $225,000 in legal fees, Archie said. Before the trial, an arbitrator recommended a $1 million settlement, but that was rejected by all parties.

On Monday, Muhammad and Archie met briefly outside the courtroom.

“As we’ve said before, the jury was clear in the ruling that my client had no sexual contact with the plaintiff as a student in the Camden City School District,” Archie said. “The minister is looking forward to going back to work in his community here in Camden City to serve the students of the district and work on improving and enhancing the quality of life for residents.”

Muhammad, accompanied by two of his wives, left without commenting. Under the agreement, he made no admission of any wrongdoing, Archie said.

In a statement, defense lawyers for the board said the district accepted no liability for the allegations made 30 years ago, and “reaffirms and underscores its commitment to the health and welfare of our students, staff, and families. Moving forward the district’s number one priority, as it has always been, will be serving our community and educating the youth of this city.”

They had previously contended the jury decision was inconsistent and legally unsupported and the jury was given improper deliberation instructions. The board’s legal fees so far total $95,220, according to documents obtained by The Inquirer in the Open Public Records Act.

Fritz said his client was relieved by the settlement. The now-45-year-old had planned to travel to New Jersey from her home in the South for the punitive trial phase. The case could have dragged on for years if the verdict was appealed, Fritz said.

“It’s a good thing for her,” Fritz said. “It’s about the finality.”

The jury heard emotional and graphic testimony from the plaintiff during the trial.

The Inquirer is not identifying her because it does not identify victims in sexual assault cases without their consent.

“I’ll never be the same,” she told The Inquirer.

In its May 14 decision, the jury of four men and two women found that Muhammad, formerly known as Donnie Walker, had not sexually abused his former student when she was under 18, but found the district liable for “willful misconduct” and negligence in supervising Muhammad.

The jury did find that Muhammad “recklessly or intentionally committed extreme and outrageous conduct” upon Doe, saying Muhammad and the board were liable on five counts.

It also found that the district “created or permitted a sexually hostile educational environment.” Doe alleged that school district employees who knew about the relationship failed to stop it.

In the lawsuit, Muhammad was accused of sexually abusing Doe when he was her seventh-grade social studies teacher at Cooper B. Hatch Middle School. 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. She said she was a virgin before Muhammad, and after they had sex, he told her, “Now you’re a woman.” She was 14.

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.

During the trial, Muhammad 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.)

» READ MORE: In his sex abuse trial, Wasim Muhammad testified that four of his six wives were 18 when he met them

The jury also heard testimony from two of Muhammad’s fives wives. Muhammad does not provide financial support for them and their children, but they could seek assistance if needed, they said. Muhammad testified that he has 17 children.

Doe 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 case has rankled some in the Camden community who have called for Muhammad to step down from the school board. Muhammad took a leave of absence in January after Gov. Phil Murphy called for his resignation.

As she has throughout the case, a Murphy spokeswoman said, “the appalling and heinous nature of these allegations casts doubt on Mr. Muhammad’s ability to effectively serve the Camden City School District.”

Fritz and his client on Monday called for Muhammad’s removal from the board. She wants the district to investigate her allegations, and provide better supervision for teachers and training on mandatory reporting when abuse is suspected.

“Wasim Muhammad should not be anybody’s school board president,” she said. “It’s an obvious decision. He should be out of that position.”

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