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NEW BEDFORD — Jacob Pothier’s family is suing the Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School and four district administrators in federal court, alleging the school violated federal and state laws, including Title IX, a federal law that protects students from discrimination based on sex, including sexual harassment.
The lawsuit, filed Friday in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts, comes about 10 months after Jacob’s family filed a letter with the school officials, expressing their intent to sue. The complaint names school Superintendent Michael Watson, Principal Warley Williams, Human Resources Director Nancy Markey, and Yolanda Dennis as defendants.
Jacob Pothier had just turned 18 and was a junior at the school when he died in a car crash in January 2024 in Dartmouth with former school employee, Kathleen Martins. Martins, now 45, worked as a security officer at the high school until March 2023, when she resigned. She was also the other vehicle occupant (and owner), and only survivor in the single-car crash. Martins is also named in the suit as a defendant.
The family alleges the district and its administrators failed to protect Jacob from an “inappropriate sexual relationship” with Martins while she was an employee. The new complaint alleges Martins sexually groomed Pothier, and that school officials failed to provide a supportive environment for Jacob when notified of the alleged relationship, instead treating him like a “perpetrator” who could get in trouble.
One of Jacob’s sisters said she learned of the relationship between Jacob and Martins in December 2022 and alerted Principal Williams in January 2023 by phone, The Light previously reported. That month, Jacob was questioned by administrators about the allegations, according to emails the family shared with The Light. In early March, Martins resigned.
“The District, GNB Voc-Tech, Watson, Markey, Williams, and/or Dennis did not treat and/or regard Jacob as a victim of grooming, sexual harassment, stalking, sexual abuse, and/or sexual violence, and instead, regarded him as a perpetrator who could be criminally punished and also disciplined by the District and/or school,” the 55-page complaint reads.
The district was “deliberately indifferent” and “violated Jacob’s well-established constitutional rights and treated him differently than similarly situated females,” the lawsuit claims.
The family also alleges Martins would take Jacob out of class while she was an employee, and that after she resigned, she would enter the school to bring him food.
The lawsuit claims 25 counts, including violations of the due process and equal protection clauses of the 14th amendment, Title IX protections, the Massachusetts Civil Rights Act, and the Child Abuse Victims Rights Act. Other claims assert wrongful death and negligent retention, training and supervision of an employee.
Scott Lang, attorney for the Pothier family, only referred to the complaint in response to a request for comment.
“Every parent should feel confident when sending their child off to school, that their child is in a protected, safe academic environment,” Stacey Pothier, Jacob’s mother, told The Light on Friday. “Any high school student, regardless of their age, should be protected from sexual abuse and sexual assault by any school staff member, including security staff.”
Jennifer Cullen, Jacob’s aunt, said that she hopes the lawsuit helps her family “get to the truth.”
“My aim is to protect other kids and families from going through what we’ve been going through,” Cullen said.
Gregory Manousos, an attorney for the district officials, in an email to Lang in November denied liability in response to the claims Lang put forth in his presentment letter.
“The School did not engage in any negligent or wrongful acts or omissions. The School and its officials took prompt actions to address the alleged inappropriate relationship between Jacob Pothier and Kathleen Martins … as soon as they were on notice of the allegations,” Manousos wrote.
“Both Pothier and Martins denied the existence of an inappropriate relationship,” he continued. “Martins was not acting within the scope of her employment and the alleged conduct occurred while she was off duty.”
Manousos also stated the fatal car accident occurred when she was no longer employed by the district.
Manousos, Watson, Williams, Markey and Dennis did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday afternoon. Martins could not be reached for comment.
Stacey Pothier previously said she thinks Jacob was 16 years old — the age of consent in Massachusetts — when the relationship started. Jacob was 15 when he started as a freshman at Voc-Tech in fall 2021; he turned 16 that December.
The April complaint alleges Martins started grooming him when he was 15.
Under Massachusetts law, no criminal statute applies to conduct by a school employee engaging in a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student, who is treated under the law as capable of consenting.
The state lacks specific statutes criminalizing sexual misconduct by staff with students 16 or older — an age most high school students turn during their sophomore year.
Child advocates call it a “consent loophole,” and they have been trying to close it for years, pushing lawmakers on Beacon Hill for more than a decade to enact legal protections, which already exist for students in many other states.
Such laws elsewhere criminalize sexual misconduct by school staff (even when the students are otherwise of consenting age), and can result in felony charges, the requirement to register as a sex offender, or even consequences for the school.
Massachusetts legislators failed last year to pass laws that would have adopted some of these protections for students.
Not the first Title IX claim against the school
Title IX is a major civil rights law that was enacted in 1972. It protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive federal funding.
In 2024, the Biden administration added protections to expand how schools can respond to allegations of sexual assault and misconduct, including broadening the definition of what counts as sexual harassment.
Consequences for schools found to be in violation of Title IX can be significant and include a loss of federal funding or fines.
Voc-Tech was previously sued in 2020 in federal court for Title IX over incidents that transpired in 2016. A female student alleged that a school resource officer tried to deprive her of her civil rights after she said another student stole nude photos from her cell phone and shared them on the internet.
In the 2020 lawsuit, the Voc-Tech student, who was 17 at the time of the incident, said that other students at the school sexually harassed her after the photos were posted online. The school settled the lawsuit about two years later for an undisclosed amount.
The complaint from that case bears some parallels to Jacob’s case, with the Pothier family alleging Jacob withdrew from school and skipped classes due to a “hostile education environment” created by school officials.
Jacob’s family is seeking damages for medical expenses, emotional distress and wrongful death. They have requested a jury trial. The defendants have about 20 days to respond to the complaint.
No charges have been filed related to the January 2024 car crash, which has been under investigation by Massachusetts State Police and the Bristol County District Attorney’s office. The new complaint states nip bottles for vodka were found in Martins’ car at the time of the crash. Jacob was neither licensed, nor allowed to purchase alcohol. It is unclear whether Jacob or Martins was driving the car when it crashed.
Email Anastasia E. Lennon at alennon@newbedfordlight.org.
I find it amazing that the Light did not mention a criminally implicating video and the DCF report. Two of the biggest matters here.
Just like New Bedford Public school incidents. New Bedford light picks and chooses what they print.