Burr Ridge District Settles Sexual Harassment Case

BURR RIDGE, IL — Pleasantdale School District 107 in Burr Ridge has settled a case in which two former eighth-graders alleged an employee sexually harassed them.

In August, the school board voted to settle the federal case at its monthly meeting. The district paid the families of the former students $100,000, which was paid through its insurer, Superintendent Dave Palzet told Patch on Thursday.

Last year, the parents of two former Pleasantdale eighth-graders sued Pleasantdale School District 107. Their federal lawsuit alleges the district mishandled its response to the incident and failed to do anything to stop other students from bullying the girls amid a student movement to keep the employee in question, James Lucarelli.

Lucarelli admitted to calling one of the students a "hottie" in a September 2018 incident. Three days later, Lucarelli, a lunchroom monitor, was suspended, according to the district.

In Cook County Circuit Court, Lucarelli was later charged with disorderly conduct in connection with the incident. He pleaded guilty and received a conditional sentence, which required him to complete a sex offender evaluation and sex offender treatment.

Both girls were forced to withdraw from Pleasantdale because of significant emotional and psychological damage as a result of the bullying, according to the lawsuit.

In return for the money, the federal lawsuit was dismissed in early September.

Patch is not releasing the plaintiffs' names because doing so would reveal the identities of the girls, who remain minors.

Patch wrote a story about the lawsuit in December 2020. It has filed a public records request for the settlement documents.