Mountain View school district reaches $625K settlement with former Theuerkauf teacher

After years of litigation, the Mountain View Whisman School District has reached a $625,000 settlement with a former teacher who alleged that she was fired for reporting an abusive and hostile work environment.

Crysti Flowers-Haywood, who taught at Theuerkauf Elementary School, filed a lawsuit against the district in 2019 claiming that she and other employees were subjected to sexual harassment and aggressive behavior from Bryan Rios, a first grade teacher, in 2017.

According to the lawsuit, the district retaliated against Flowers-Haywood and did not renew her teaching contract after she reported the abuse.

The district settled the suit last November, agreeing to pay out approximately $287,000 to Flowers-Haywood and $338,000 to her attorneys, according to a copy of the agreement that the district shared with the Voice. The settlement, which was first reported by the Palo Alto Daily Post, releases the district from any future claims.

Mountain View Whisman denied any wrongdoing or admission of liability in the settlement. “The district believes that it did not engage in wrongful conduct of any kind,” district spokesperson Shelly Hausman said in an emailed statement.

The district also says that the cost of the settlement was covered by insurance. “We are thankful that the district’s insurance coverage permits us to bring finality to the distraction that this litigation created,” according to the statement.

But the district’s legal troubles are not entirely over. A second plaintiff, referred to as Jane Doe, also filed a lawsuit against the district in 2019 that has not yet been resolved. The complaint alleges the district failed to protect Doe from Rios when she was a teacher’s aide at Theuerkauf. It claims Rios sexually harassed Doe on campus and raped her in his home, according to the suit.

In November 2017, Rios was put on paid administrative leave by the district, just weeks before he was arrested on charges of sexual assault. The district terminated Rios’ employment in 2018.

The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office declined to press charges against Rios because of insufficient evidence at the time. Then in 2023, the Mountain View police arrested Rios on suspicion of sexual misconduct, after a former student came forward with allegations that Rios molested her when she was a first grader at Theuerkauf.

Rios is facing felony charges for the sexual assault of a minor and has pleaded not guilty, according to the District Attorney’s office. The District Attorney also has filed rape charges in connection to a separate incident in the same criminal case. Rios’ next court hearing is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 27.

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