WARWICK – A former Bishop Hendricken High School teacher on June 6 was found by a jury in Kent County Superior Court to have defamed three fellow employees when through a created website, he claimed that another teacher used a school computer to solicit sex with younger men.
As a result of the finding following a three-week trial, David Marsocci, the teacher turned alleged whistleblower, was ordered to pay $1.5 million in compensatory and punitive damages to his former colleagues, as well as to the school and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence. Former Principal Joseph Brennan will receive $500,000, while former Assistant Principal David Flanagan will be paid $475,000. Former school President John Jackson will receive $450,000, and both Bishop Hendricken and the Diocese will each receive $50,000 from Marsocci, per the ruling.
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According to court documents first filed in 2018, Marsocci filed a lawsuit against Bishop Hendricken, the Diocese, Jackson, Flanagan and Brennan alleging that Marsocci was suspended the previous year for threatening to expose a cover-up about the teacher in question. Marsocci, who was subsequently terminated from his job for insubordination, alleged that Bishop Hendricken “refused to investigate” whether a schoolteacher used a school computer to “seek paid and unpaid sexual encounters” with younger men through internet sites.
Marsocci also claimed in the suit that Jackson, Flanagan and Brennan defamed him, thus preventing him from landing other teaching jobs, court documents state. The defendants denied the charges, with Brennan saying in court documents that Marsocci “failed to provide evidence” to support his defamation claim.
The jury sided with the defendants in the suit because Marsocci never brought any concerns about alleged improper conduct by the teacher in question to local authorities, such as the police or the R.I. Department of Children, Youth and Families, Paul F. Galamaga, partner for Providence-based Ratcliffe Harten Galamaga LLP and the defendants’ attorney, told Providence Business News.
When Marsocci brought those concerns to Bishop Hendricken officials, the school notified police, Galamaga said. After investigating the claims, police notified school officials that it was a civil matter, not a criminal one, Galamaga said.
“[Bishop Hendricken] welcomed the police to do the investigation,” Galamaga said. “The jury was basically saying, How can you say they were trying to do a cover-up and weren’t letting you go to the police when they went to the police with your concerns?’ I think that’s what the jury was seeing.”
Galamaga said the jury found “no evidence” that Marsocci was acting as a whistleblower when he created a website about the teacher instead of contacting authorities. Galamaga added that he feels “confident” that there won’t be an appeal by the plaintiff.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on X at @James_Bessette.
