The attorney for a former Academy of Arts and Academics student who’s suing the Springfield school district says there’s a good chance others may have been harmed by its principal.
Barb Long is a Portland attorney representing a woman who endured a decade-long episode of unwanted sexual encounters, stalking, harassment, and grooming by Mike Fisher. A day after being put on administrative leave this winter, Fisher hanged himself in his garage.
Long says she’s pored over police and school reports that show Springfield School District employees knew something inappropriate was going on between Fisher and the then-underage girl, but failed to intervene.
“I haven’t heard anything specifically other than what I have read in the incident report, but I think there’s a great likelihood that other people have been affected," she tells KLCC.
"I think that his suicide really constitutes an admission, and certainly my client and others would have preferred for him go through the criminal justice process rather than what happened.”
Long is seeking maximum damages for her client. A Springfield Police spokesman says so far, he’s not heard from anyone else claiming to have been victimized by Fisher.
Copyright 2018, KLCC.
