- Six current and former students filed a $10 million lawsuit against the Davis School District.
- The lawsuit alleges mishandling of complaints made against former girls soccer coach Soulivanh Phongsavath.
- Plaintiffs allege retaliation for making complaints and seek equitable change to protect future students.
FARMINGTON — A group of six current and former students has filed a $10 million lawsuit against Davis School District, alleging the district mishandled complaints of grooming and harassment and subjected students to retaliation, bullying and emotional harm.
"This case is about severe institutional betrayal," Adam Bondy, an attorney with Parsons Behle and Latimer and counsel for the plaintiffs, said in a statement. "Institutional betrayal occurs when an institution violates the trust of those who depend on it for safety and support. These students trusted their school district to protect them, and that trust was broken."
The lawsuit, filed Monday in the U.S. District Court of Utah, alleges that Soulivanh Phongsavath, former Davis High School girls soccer coach and current Davis High teacher, engaged in sexual grooming and harassment and used his status as both a coach and teacher to do so.
The lawsuit accuses Phongsavath of encouraging female students on the girls' soccer team and in his girls-only class to make videos together — sometimes adaptations of famous music videos — for him to view.
"Underage girls recreated these scenes by wearing skin-colored swimsuits or bodysuits or other revealing attire inappropriate for a school setting," the lawsuit claims.
Phongsavath set aside class time on Fridays — referred to as "Fun Fridays" — for female students on his soccer team to make the videos. In one instance, Phongsavath instructed some of the students to dress in bikinis on school grounds and during school hours, according to the lawsuit.
Additionally, the lawsuit says Phongsavath organized and attended swim parties for the girls' soccer team, where he "judged dancing competitions" until he was instructed by an unnamed district official to stop attending such parties. The lawsuit accuses Phongsavath of pressuring members of the team to put together and send him "videos of swimsuit dancing competitions" after he stopped attending the parties.
Additional allegations in the suit say Phongsavath would ask girls, including two of the plaintiffs, who they had kissed, made out with and who they were "getting down with," both in person and via text messages.
Phongsavath allegedly decorated his classroom with what the lawsuit describes as "sexually suggestive signs."
Davis School District spokeswoman Terri Hall told KSL the district "takes allegations of misconduct seriously," but said it wouldn't comment on pending litigation. Phongsavath did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Mishandled complaints
During a meeting, Phongsavath told parents they couldn't complain about him because it was "just his coaching style," that he had Davis High administrators "wrapped around his finger" and that anyone who came forward with complaints would be ignored because "they and their parents would be seen as bitter because they were not getting enough playing time," according to the lawsuit.
When complaints began to come in, the lawsuit claims they were shut down and mishandled by administrators at both the school and district levels.
Around September 2023, when parents of two players complained to Davis High administrators, the administrators said their daughters had each been given considerably more varsity playing time in subsequent soccer games, which led parents to believe the district viewed all complaints as solely motivated by a lack of playing time.
"This view resulted in a culture of inaction, wherein (Phongsavath), DHS administrators, and the district attempted to resolve complaints by giving the complainants more playing time for a few games without addressing the gravamen of the complaints," the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit also alleges that the district, at some level, informed Phongsavath about the parents' complaints and "unlawfully disclosed the identities of the parents and/or students."
At this point, the parents who lodged the initial duo of complaints, along with two other sets of parents, met with Davis High Principal Lori Hawthorne and assistant principal Doug Peterson.
Retaliation and fallout
After this meeting, the lawsuit says the plaintiffs faced retaliation "almost immediately."
One was allegedly "accosted by a player from the boys soccer team who accused her of being one of four girls making complaints," adding the accosting player "was aware of details regarding the complaints that should have been known only to the DHS administrators, the complaining students and their parents."
On Oct. 11, 2023, Hawthorne announced the investigation was complete. The parents say Phongsavath didn't attend that day's practice and didn't coach in the game the following day. "Rumors, including specific details from the supposedly confidential interviews and statements, emerged among the students. Several members of the girls and boys soccer teams began bullying, threatening and targeting the victims that had reported the misconduct," the lawsuit claims.
On Oct. 31, 2023, Phongsavath resigned from his position as head coach of the girls' soccer team.
Still concerned with the ongoing retaliation, the parents of the students met with district Superintendent Dan Linford.
"Mr. Linford indicated that the reported behaviors (inappropriate touching, sexual misconduct, improper and unsupervised coach-to-minor communications, etc.) were not concerning to him or to the district," according to the lawsuit, which adds that Linford's son played on Phongsavath's club soccer team.
On Nov. 2, 2023, the lawsuit claims several players initiated a "Free Souli" campaign that included wearing red to show support, along with distinctive bracelets and armbands to signal that anyone without such attire was "part of the problem."
The lawsuit alleges that in different instances, the plaintiffs were physically attacked, which included kicking and hitting.
"Despite repeated reports and numerous opportunities, the DHS administration and the district failed to take steps to protect victims, maintain confidentiality, or defuse the situation," said the lawsuit.
"My clients are seeking equitable change," Bondy said in a statement. "They want to ensure that no other student is ever put in this position again. We want Davis School District to protect their students from retaliation and further harm, and to respond to reports with respect, responsiveness, and accountability, as required by its own policies and by state and federal law."
The lawsuit seeks $10 million in compensatory, economic and emotional distress damages.
Contributing: Shelby Lofton
