Former student files $13.4 million claim against Mercer Island School District over alleged teacher sexual abuse

A former student has filed a tort claim against the Mercer Island School District, alleging administrators failed to intervene and protect her from being targeted, groomed and sexually abused by Curtis Johnston, a longtime English teacher at the school.

The former student, who wished to remain anonymous, told InvestigateWest in October that Johnston began grooming her for a sexual relationship her senior year of high school in 2012 — when Johnston was 44, and she was 18.

The claim, which includes a request for $13.4 million in damages, was filed on Feb. 4 on behalf of the former student by the Seattle-based law firm Hagens Berman. Under state law, the school district has 60 days from the day it was filed to respond. The Seattle-area school district could either resolve the claim through a negotiated settlement agreement or reject it, which would lead to a formal lawsuit being filed. 

“Mercer Island High School had a duty to protect students like our client from harm — grooming, abuse and manipulation,” wrote Jake Berman, the student’s lawyer with Hagens Berman, in a written statement.

“Legal action can’t go back in time and stop abuse from happening, but fighting it in the court can help pave the way for other survivors to step forward, to see a path available to rewrite their ending.” 

The Mercer Island School District declined to comment, citing the pending legal proceedings.

The inappropriate relationship between Johnston and the former student — which several students who spoke to InvestigateWest said was an “open secret” even years after it occurred — was brought to school leaders’ attention by numerous people, including a church counselor and another student. But public records obtained by InvestigateWest show that the concerns were quickly dismissed. 

The district conducted a brief investigation in 2012 that culminated in a personnel meeting with the written goal being to “protect Curtis and the District,” according to school records obtained by InvestigateWest. The civil claim highlights how the administration and school board failed to contact the Mercer Island Police Department until 2024, nearly 13 years after the serious concerns about Johnston were first reported. 

The complaint details how Johnston’s role in the student’s life “quickly expanded and intensified” following a school-sanctioned international trip to Southeast Asia. When the two returned, Johnston paid special attention to her, assigning her as his teaching assistant, buying her gifts and showering her with praise. Soon after, the complaint states, Johnston coerced her into having sex. The two were seen leaving school events together, including prom.

“He bombarded her with messages and closely monitored her activities, communications and friendships, steadily tightening his control,” the tort claim states. “This pattern of escalating contact, surveillance, and isolation is consistent with well-established grooming tactics used by sexual predators to gain access to and maintain power over their victims.” 

The claim states that the sexual abuse and the Mercer Island School District’s negligence in investigating the concerns raised led the student to experience severe emotional distress, resulting in post-traumatic stress disorder that continues today. 

Johnston, who did not respond to multiple requests for comment, abruptly announced his retirement in August 2025 just a few days after InvestigateWest and the Mercer Island Reporter published an investigation into one of his former colleagues in the English department, Gary “Chris” Twombley, who engaged in an inappropriate relationship with an underage student in 2015 — allegations that the current district leaders kept quiet. 

The school district launched a third-party investigation into Johnston following InvestigateWest’s reporting, but closed it less than two months later after being “unable to make any findings,” Superintendent Fred Rundle wrote in a written statement shared with the community in January.

“Due to the unavailability of those involved, the investigator was unable to make any findings regarding the allegations set forth in the InvestigateWest article, and the investigation has been closed.”