Burr Ridge School Worker Sexually Harassed Students: Lawsuit

BURR RIDGE, IL — A former employee of Pleasantdale Middle School in Burr Ridge who admitted to calling a student a "hottie" in a September 2018 incident was later fired and convicted.

Earlier this year, the parents of two former Pleasantdale eighth-graders sued Pleasantdale School District 107. The 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, a lunchroom monitor, was suspended Sept. 10, 2018, three days after the incident, and fired four months later, according to the district.

On Sept. 7, 2018, the 77-year-old Lucarelli approached a group of girls in the lunchroom and singled out one of them, a 13-year-old. He loudly told her she was "hot," adding, "I remember your mom being hot, but not as hot as you. Don't tell her I said that though," according to the lawsuit. The girl's mother had been a student there too.

Lucarelli then told the girl that she should move to another table and away from her friends because she was radiating too much heat, the lawsuit said.

Lucarelli touched the girl's hand to do a "handshake" that Lucarelli only did with girls, the lawsuit alleged. It involves touching hands, Lucarelli touching a girl's face and then the girl touching Lucarelli's, it said.

In this case, Lucarelli told the girl that her hand burned him because she was so hot, then he hugged and squeezed her, the lawsuit said.

In his response to the lawsuit, Lucarelli confirmed he called the girl a "hottie" and commented that she was dressed nice. He also said he had a "special handshake" with students.

The lawsuit alleged Lucarelli had a pattern of giving gifts such as stuffed animals, clothing and jewelry to girls at the school, including the girl in question. Court records also said he offered girls rides home.

In its investigation after the incident, the district interviewed several students who said Lucarelli had bought them gifts.

The girl who received Lucarelli's focus and her friend, both of whose parents are plaintiffs, told their mothers about the incident later that day. The first girl's mother called Principal Griffin Sonntag, who said he wasn't surprised to hear about Lucarelli's behavior because he had received similar complaints before, according to the lawsuit. In its response, the district denied the principal made that statement.

While the district spoke with a number of students, it did not interview Lucarelli, who refused on the advice of his lawyer, the district said.

According to the lawsuit, the girls were told by administrators not to discuss with anyone what Lucarelli did, including the police, with Sonntag saying, "You know, being creepy isn't a crime." The district denied those allegations.

'Not a predator'

After the school suspended Lucarelli, students created a Change.org petition to support his return. Posters, signs and T-shirts were created and displayed throughout the school, the lawsuit said. One T-shirt read, "Mr. Jim is (my) bud and not a predator," the plaintiffs said.

The petition remains online, collecting more than 1,800 signatures. Many people complimented Lucarelli's service and said he was penalized for trying to brighten a couple of girls' day by calling them "cute."

The district acknowledged the campaign for Lucarelli, but said it immediately took down signs after seeing them.

According to the plaintiffs, students bullied the girls in the school and online, telling the duo that they hated them for getting Lucarelli removed. The plaintiffs said school administrators did not respond to their complaints about the bullying, with Sonntag telling them to move on and get over it, an allegation the district denied.

The defendants in the lawsuit are the school district, Lucarelli and teacher Kay Lewellyn. On Sept. 19, 2018, one of the two girls was in front of Lewellyn's class presenting a project on the classroom video board when Lewellyn repeatedly inserted the pro-Lucarelli petition on the board. News of this spread throughout the school, with Lewellyn later admitting she inserted the petition, the lawsuit said.

The district admitted the girl presented the project, but denied that the teacher promoted the petition during the presentation.

Lucarelli was charged with disorderly conduct in connection with the incident in Cook County Circuit Court. 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.

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

'That's not right'

In an interview Monday, the families' attorney, Nemura Pencyla, said the two sides agree on many of the facts of the case.

"I think everyone wants to see justice for the girls," he said. "It's dependent on the other side seeing the righteousness of the claims and coming to grips with their responsibilities. The girls were harassed. They were basically drummed out of school after they complained about illegal actions. That's not right."

For the girls' sake, Pencyla said he hoped to avoid full litigation. But he said the plaintiffs are ready to put the facts before a jury.

"We hope the facts will drive a just resolution," he said.

The district and Lewellyn are represented by attorney Babak Bakhtiari of Arlington Heights-based Hodges, Loizzi, Eisenhammer, Rodick & Kohn. The firm did not return a call for comment.

In a reply to a Patch email, the district's superintendent, Dave Palzet said, "We believe the District took appropriate actions in responding to the conduct of one of its employees. We disagree with the plaintiffs’ characterization of the District’s and (Lewellyn's) response to the aftermath of that employee’s conduct and will continue to defend ourselves in court."

Lucarelli was a longtime custodian before he retired in 2016, when he took the lunchroom monitor position. His lawyer, Cathryn Hall, did not return a call for comment.

No trial date has been set.