A Bristol County Superior Court judge has denied a request to reconsider its decision earlier this year that tossed most of a sexual harassment lawsuit by a Fall River Public Schools safety officer.

 

School safety officer Carla Cruz in October 2025 filed a civil lawsuit in Superior Court seeking $10 million and a jury trial on allegations that three coworkers propositioned her for sex, offered her drugs and groped her, and that school officials were negligent in investigating the matter.

 

Cruz sued the school department, then-Superintendent Tracy Curley, former Superintendent Maria Pontes, FRPS Human Resources Executive Director Thomas Coogan, Title IX Coordinator Brian Lally, and three coworkers: Joseph Correia, Kyle Frizado and Jordan Periquito.

 

Judge Thomas Perrino in May dismissed the claims against all parties except Periquito, in part because she let too much time elapse between the alleged incidents and her complaint.

 

On July 22, Perrino denied a motion from Cruz to reconsider the decision, saying nothing in Cruz’s motion changes the fact that the statute of limitations had run out on her complaints.

 

He also denied a motion from Cruz to amend her original complaint, because Cruz “failed to submit a proposed amended complaint.”

 

See more at heraldnews.com.