Judge rules lawsuit targeting St. John Bosco coach | College News
A lawsuit that named embellished St. John Bosco High School soccer coach Jason Negro as a defendant was ruled by a Los Angeles Superior Court decide Thursday to have little legal foundation.
The civil swimsuit filed a 12 months in the past by just lately fired St. John Bosco president and CEO Brian Wickstrom and two other former college directors seeks damages from Negro, the varsity and the Salesian Society — a Catholic spiritual order that oversees the varsity — claiming retaliation, harassment and defamation.
“Anyone can file a complaint, but when it gets to court, it has to have a legal basis and facts,” said Brian Panish, Negro’s lawyer and a longtime St. John Bosco booster.
The plaintiffs — St. John Bosco CFO Melanie Marcaurel, chief technology officer Derek Barraza and Wickstrom — also need their jobs back, according to the lawsuit. They have been fired in 2024 after alleging that Negro embezzled money from the varsity for years and had assistant coaches pay the tutoring for prized gamers in money, saying the funds have been from “anonymous donors.”
The lawsuit also alleged that Negro carried out all financial transactions related with his powerhouse program in money that he retains in a secure in his workplace, with no accounting or accountability by the varsity.
A cross-complaint filed in June by Negro, St. John Bosco and the Salesians fired back, saying that “the school uncovered information that Wickstrom obtained loans without authorization, received excessive compensation and benefits to which he was not entitled, and breached his fiduciary duties.”
In his ruling Thursday, Judge Tony L. Richardson decided that St. John Bosco — not Negro or the Salesian Society — employed the plaintiffs, making only the varsity a correct goal for most of the claims. Richardson said that the plaintiffs have 20 days to amend their lawsuit to focus on St. John Bosco as a defendant.
The decide also shot down an argument that Negro is accountable for punitive damages, writing “the plaintiffs have not alleged a viable cause of action against Negro and therefore have not alleged facts to support punitive damages.”
A message left with the lawyer representing Wickstrom, Marcaurel and Barraza was not returned.
Negro has twice been named national coach of the 12 months by Max Preps, main the Bellflower parochial college to a file of 177-30 in 16 seasons, profitable 4 CIF State championships and two national titles.
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