619-342-8000Haeggquist & Eck, LLP appeared in a news report for taking on case involving Title IX and San Diego State University. Read more about it here:
Firm News
Haeggquist & Eck, LLP Appears in Local News in for Taking on San Diego County Sheriff’s Department Sexual Harassment Case
A recent case involving involving San Diego County Sheriff’s Department has mentioned Haeggquist & Eck, LLP. Here are some of the news reports:
San Diego Teacher and Youth Hockey Coach Arrested for Distributing Sexually Explicit Images of Minors
Daniel Zachary Dasko, a substitute teacher and volunteer hockey coach in San Diego, has been arrested and charged with violation of Title 18, U.S.C. 2252 (a)(2) Distribution of Images of Minors Engaged in Sexually Explicit Conduct.
According to the Department of Justice news release, a review of Daniel Dasko’s iPhone revealed numerous conversations regarding child pornography using a social media application. Dasko was trading and producing images with another person who was identified as a teacher in the Philadelphia area. The teacher from Philadelphia and other coconspirators would pose as females on social media sites to chat with the victims.
They were baiting minor victims to send nude photos or videos, or to go live online and be screen-recorded. During a one-year period from October 3, 2020, to October 3, 2021, they exchanged over 3,671 messages, including numerous image and video files. The messages were conversations about sexually exploiting children they knew or met online.1
As we searched for more information on this case, we noticed red flags based on our experience working with survivors.
Red Flag #1 Dasko’s Employment History
Daniel Dasko’s file with the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing shows that for six years Dasko had a 30-Day Substitute Teaching Permit and a Certificate of Clearance but not a teaching credential.2
Renewing a substitute certificate six years in a row versus taking the test to become a full-time credentialed teacher is questionable for a few reasons. Substituting is typically used as a way for new teachers to get their foot in the door so they can hopefully get hired full-time by a district. There is a fee to renew the substitute certificate each year. Substitutes do not receive the benefits and security that full-time teachers have such as higher pay, tenure, seniority, and retirement benefits.
According to Transparent California, Dasko worked as a substitute teacher at Del Mar Union Elementary, Encinitas Union Elementary, Rancho Santa Fe Elementary, Solana Beach Elementary, El Rancho Unified and San Dieguito Union High School Districts.3
Predators are often attracted to a specific age range. A benefit of being a substitute versus a full-time teacher is that substitutes choose which schools and classes they substitute for which gives them direct access to specific age groups. Substitutes can apply to several school districts at the same time. Moving from school to school, especially between different school districts, is a typical pattern of a predator.
According to Dasko’s LinkedIn profile4, he volunteered at Head Start by the Sea Encinitas as Teacher Support starting in July 2007. Dasko’s profile says he worked as a Marketing Intern at Webistan in the coordination of an international children’s photography contest. Dasko’s profile says he was a youth hockey coach at San Diego Ice Arena from Dec 2015 to the present.
Red Flag #2 Dasko’s Coaching History
Dasko was a volunteer coach for kids 12 years old and younger at the San Diego Ice Arena. Dasko’s USA Hockey Certification shows he was certified to coach 8 and under beginning 2015, 10 and under beginning 2018, and 12 and under beginning 2019.5
Predators volunteer for positions to gain access to kids. Coaching brings endless opportunities because there is a new influx of kids each season. You might wonder how abuse can happen in a situation where there is a team full of kids, multiple coaches, and lots of parents observing during practice. More than 90% of abuse is perpetrated by someone the victim knows. It begins with grooming, the act of slowly getting someone to let their guard down and trust you. Predators groom their victims and every bystander that surrounds their victims. This can include parents, coworkers, supervisors, and other kids. Predators cannot be successful at gaining access to kids if the adults do not trust them. When predators are exposed people are either in shock or complete denial. Predators are often referred to as the favorite teacher or coach.
Athletes are particularly vulnerable to abuse because of the nature of sports. Athletes are taught to do what they are told and not complain. Coaches demand respect and conformity. Coaches decide who starts, who plays, who sits on the bench, and who advances to the next level. If a parent questions a coach’s behavior, it can have repercussions for their kids. When a coach offers to spend extra time or train one-on-one it seems too good to pass up. Athletic teams often travel and stay in hotels.
Red Flag #3
When CBS8 interviewed Joel Henderson, president of the San Diego Ice Arena Oilers Hockey Club, he said, “I’ve been doing this over 40 years and, in my program, I can never remember any case that I have ever had involving children being abused in any way.”6
Rarely will you catch a predator in the act of molesting kids. Predatory behaviors show up as pushing boundaries, communicating outside of school or practice, interacting on social media or video games, one-on-one time, giving rides to and from school or practice, nicknames exchanged, playful physical touching such as tickling or smacking bottoms, gift giving, taking pictures, or treating them differently than others.
What do Red Flags mean?
Red flags are behaviors that raise a question or suspicion and should be further evaluated when there are multiple red flags, patterns, escalation, or any type of disclosure. They are not necessarily evidence of any wrongdoing.
Victims or anyone with information about this case is encouraged to call the FBI San Diego Field Office at 858-320-1800 or submit a tip at tips.fbi.gov. Tips can be anonymous.
If you would like to speak to an attorney to ask about your legal rights or obligations before contacting the FBI, call Haeggquist & Eck for a free and confidential consultation at 619-342-8000.
Haeggquist & Eck, LLP Title IX Clients Featured on ESPN for Class Action Suit Against SDSU
Haeggquist & Eck are proud to team up with Bailey Glasser to represent former and current SDSU athletes in their fight against sexual discrimination. While Title IX has drastically altered the landscape of college sports, a number of schools, like SDSU, remain out of compliance.
Learn more about their story here. Source: Dan Murphy via ESPN
Founded in 2008, Haeggquist & Eck is proud to be San Diego’s definitive employee and consumer rights advocates, dedicated to seeking justice for marginalized communities. When you hire the team at Haeggquist & Eck, you are choosing a woman-owned business that knows what it means to be underestimated. We pride ourselves on our fearlessness: No defendant is too large or powerful for us to tackle. For more information contact us or call 619-342-8000.
JENNA RANGEL PROMOTED TO PARTER
We’re thrilled to announce that Jenna Rangel has been promoted to partner at Haeggquist & Eck!
Jenna has been with the firm since 2014 and as devoted her career to representing employees in claims involving wrongful termination, discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, and wage and hour violations at work. She has obtained millions of dollars in damages on behalf of her clients and has represented clients against such employers as the Orange County Fire Authority, the Salk Institute, Herbalife, the Grand del Mar, Wyndham. This year alone, Jenna obtained a trial verdict against the San Diego Sheriff’s Department in a sexual harassment lawsuit against the Sheriff’s Department and the former Assistant Sheriff.
Jenna was selected in 2019 and 2020 as a Super Lawyers Rising Star, an honor received by less than 2.5 percent of attorneys in California each year. She was also selected as the San Diego Business Journal’s Best of the Bar in 2017 and as a Leaders in Law finalist in 2021.
A native San Diegan, Jenna graduated in 2010 from California Western School of Law, where her tireless dedication to public interest causes, including work for the nonprofit California Women’s Law Center on matters relating to gender discrimination and for the County of San Diego’s Juvenile Dependency Division assisting in the representation of foster children in court, earned her a spot on the school’s Pro Bono Honor Society. Jenna holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and marketing from California State University-Chico and a paralegal certificate from the University of San Diego. In her free time, she enjoys traveling and spending time with her husband and young son and daughter.
Congratulations, Jenna!
HAE Represents Former County of San Diego Chief Medical Officer In Disability Discrimination Lawsuit
HAE attorneys Alreen Haeggquist, Aaron Olsen, and Jenna Rangel have filed a disability discrimination lawsuit against the County of San Diego on behalf of Dr. Nicholas Yphantides, who led the County’s early response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Yphantides, or “Dr. Nick,” served as San Diego County’s Chief Medical Officer for 11 years and was one of the County’s first public faces leading San Diego’s response to the COVID-19 crisis. But that work came at a great personal cost. By October of 2020, Dr. Nick – like so many of his colleagues in the healthcare community – was suffering from crippling depression, anxiety, and insomnia.
In a lawsuit filed September 8 in federal court in San Diego, Dr. Nick says he requested and took a four-week medical leave to care for his mental health in October 2020. But when he returned to work in November 2020, the lawsuit alleges, members of the County’s leadership presumed Dr. Nick was damaged goods. The County then began to unfairly scrutinize Dr. Nick’s performance, looking for proof to substantiate its illegal presumption. In January 2021, despite effectively leading the County through the holiday induced COVID spikes, the County forced Dr. Nick to take another leave of absence for his “mental health” or face immediate termination. Left without meaningful choice, Dr. Nick took an additional seven weeks of leave. But, before Dr. Nick could resume his job duties, the County then demanded he take a fitness for duty test – a request that Dr. Nick’s legal team says violated the County’s own policies and the law. Before that exam could be completed, the County fired him without providing any reason for doing so.
“To put it simply, Dr. Nick is a healthcare hero,” Aaron Olsen, one of the attorneys representing Dr. Nick, says. “After years spent deftly guiding the County through its response to not one but multiple public health crises – and after devoting months of his life to serving on the front lines of the COVID19 pandemic – he should be applauded for putting his mental health first. He was transparent and genuine with the County of San Diego when he shared what he was going through – and in response, they fired him. This cannot stand.”
The case is pending in United States District Court in San Diego. MEMBERS OF THE MEDIA: please email media@haelaw.com to schedule an interview on this case.
