Lawsuit filed against Edinburg CISD employees over nude exercise incident

EDINBURG, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A lawsuit has been filed against three Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District employees following allegations that a student was ordered and threatened to exercise while nude.

Raul Rocha, identified in documents as the next of friend of the minor student involved in the alleged incident, is suing a Robert Vela High School football coach for intentional acts of abuse and misconduct, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit states that the football coach forced the student out of the shower to perform "strenuous physical exercise" while completely nude.

When the student attempted to cover his body, the coach threatened and ordered the student to remain nude, the suit states.

Several causes of action were stated in the lawsuit, referring to elements of assault, emotional distress, and false imprisonment.

Two other district employees were also named as defendants in the suit.

One is accused of having contributed to the coach's actions, with the lawsuit claiming that they "knowingly allowed sexual and physical abuse to persist under [their watch]."

The other is accused of being "aware of prior complaints against [the coach]," and allegedly "pushed for [the coach's] hiring, despite credible reports of sexual misconduct at his previous employment."

The suit states that the coach faced allegations of inappropriate behavior at the McAllen Independent School District right before he was hired at Edinburg Vela High School.

The alleged incident is also referred to throughout the lawsuit as a "cover-up," and the decision to hire him as a coach was driven by "political" factors.

"His selection was not the product of merit or demonstrated coaching excellence," the suit says. "Instead, it was driven by entrenched political influence."

A police investigation was allegedly initiated into the exercise incident, but halted by school administrators who instead chose to proceed with an internal review, the lawsuit states.

The suit mentions an Edinburg CISD Police Department investigator admitted the case against the coach was credible, and acknowledged other victims.

"[The coach] was never suspended. There was no criminal referral. No public accountability. Only silence and political cover-up," the lawsuit says.

The victim's friend is suing for up to $1 million in damages, including medical and mental health expenses, physical pain and suffering, emotional trauma, mental anguish, and punitive damages.

ValleyCentral filed an open records request for the coach's resume and application for the Edinburg Vela coaching position, as well as a list of applicants who applied for the position, the total number of alleged complaints filed against him, and additional details about the alleged complaints through the district's open records page.

O'Hanlon, Demerath & Castillo Law Firm, on behalf of Edinburg CISD, declined to release the information, stating the information is confidential, and instead requested a ruling from the Texas Attorney General's office regarding whether the information is exempt from disclosure.

Court documents show that Eric D. Flores, with O'Hanlon, Demerath & Castillo Law Firm, is also representing the three district employees.

ValleyCentral reached out to Flores and Edinburg CISD for an official statement on the lawsuit.

Flores was not immediately available to speak.

A spokesperson with Edinburg CISD said they were not able to provide a statement about the lawsuit.

At the time this article was published, the coach was not on the school's staff directory page. The names of the accused are provided in the lawsuit. However, ValleyCentral is not revealing their identities since they are not facing criminal charges.