In May 2022, a popular teacher and girls soccer coach at Grossmont High School emailed his principal, seeking the day off from overseeing end-of-year senior testing.
“Given the false accusations against me, should I take Thursday off?” John Neill wrote Principal Dan Barnes, noting that the chances of seeing a girl accusing him of sexual misconduct were 1-in-532 but realizing “it could happen and trigger her.”
That note, obtained under a public-records act request, came six days after the Grossmont Union High School District rejected a tort claim by attorneys representing a female student alleging Neill sexually battered her.
In March 2023, attorneys Dan Gilleon and Samuel A. Clemens filed an amended lawsuit on behalf of their unnamed client — Jane Doe — alleging that Neill in October 2021 reached under her waist band, touched her skin and pressed his body up against her from behind…