Doe v. City of Los Angeles

John Doe 1 and John Doe 2 (plaintiffs) sued the City of Los Angeles (the city) and the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) (defendants). The Does alleged that decades earlier, when they were teenagers, they had participated in a joint program between the BSA and the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and that the city and BSA had negligently allowed LAPD officer David Kalish to sexually abuse the Does in connection with the program. Under the applicable statute-of-limitations laws, the Does’ lawsuits were time-barred unless the city or BSA had known or had reason to know that Kalish had engaged in unlawful sexual conduct and had failed to take reasonable measures to prevent him from abusing the Does. In their complaints, the Does alleged that the city and BSA knew there was a high risk that Kalish would abuse program participants because (1) the program created a high-risk environment for sexual abuse; (2) other officers had engaged in sexual misconduct with program participants; and (3) Kalish had publicly displayed inappropriate tendencies by expressing interest in certain young boys, making frequent trips to Thailand, and being friends with a pornographer known for pedophilia. The city and BSA moved to dismiss the lawsuits as time-barred, arguing that the Does had not alleged that the city or BSA had known that Kalish had abused anyone. The trial court dismissed the lawsuits. The court of appeals affirmed. The California Supreme Court agreed to review the matter.