Officials at Mission College in Santa Clara announced Tuesday they had reached a $7.6 million settlement with a student who accused a former instructor of sexually assaulting her multiple times on campus in 2020.
The victim was 25 years old at the time of the assaults and a student in the college's Program for Students with Developmental Disabilities, according to the college. The man accused of the sexual assaults was Raymond Ruiz, then 68, was a contract employee and not a permanent member of the staff.
Tuesday's announcement from the college said Ruiz was immediately fired from his position with the college in June 2020 upon notification of the victim's allegations.
Ruiz's wife, who was employed in a supervisory role in the same program, was also dismissed by the college effective June 2020.
The West Valley-Mission District police conducted a joint investigation with Santa Clara police, with the full cooperation of college administrators and staff, resulting in the July 2020 arrest of Ruiz, who is in jail awaiting trial, according to the announcement.
“Mission College takes seriously our commitment to student safety, but failed in this case to ensure the well-being of one of our female students in the Program for Students with Developmental Disabilities,” said Bradley Davis, chancellor of the West Valley-Mission Community College District.
“We sincerely apologize to the victim and her family and hope that this settlement provides some measure of relief for their pain and suffering.”
The settlement agreement of $7.6 million will be paid largely through the college's insurance, according to the announcement.
“We want to assure our current and future students, faculty, staff and parents that the college is committed to making certain that this type of behavior never again occurs on campus or during college-sponsored activities, and that steps have been taken by the department of public safety and department of human resources to improve safety protocols and protections at all levels,” Davis said.
Officials said the college has established mandatory training for all employees about mandatory reporting responsibilities, committed to a program of immediate notification of the Santa Clara County District Attorney of all allegations of crimes against individuals on campus and established new hiring protocols to avoid having managers with direct or indirect responsibility over relatives.
