INGLEWOOD – The mother of an administrator at an Inglewood aeronautics and aviation training school who was fatally shot by a campus security guard should pursue her claims in the worker’s compensation forum rather than in court, the school’s attorneys state in new court papers.
Tywana Williams, the mother of Cameisha Clark, contends in her Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit that the Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology was negligent in the employment of Jesse Figueroa — a felon — as a security guard.
But in court papers filed Monday with Judge Michael Small in advance of an Oct. 27 hearing, Spartan College attorneys contend that Williams is seeking relief in the wrong place, insofar as her allegations against the school, and that the correct arena is workers’ compensation.
“The Spartan defendants express their deepest sympathies to Dr. Clark’s family, including plaintiff Tywana Williams,” the Spartan lawyers state in their pleadings. “Notwithstanding the sad nature of these events, this lawsuit is brought in the wrong forum as against the Spartan defendants. The state of California has legislated that employees who are injured or killed in the workplace, or their beneficiaries, must seek compensation from employers through the workers’ compensation process.”
Williams can seek benefits that might be available to her under workers’ compensation claim process and she can also pursue in court her claims against Figueroa through statutory exceptions in workers’ compensation, according to the Spartan College’s lawyers’ pleadings.
The shooting occurred about 3:45 p.m. May 2 inside an office on the college campus in the 8900 block of Aviation Boulevard, between Arbor Vitae Street and Hillcrest Boulevard, authorities said. Figueroa is accused of fatally shooting Clark, 37, who had recently been promoted to dean of students, and wounding her assistant, a 35-year-old woman.
According to the Inglewood Police Department the shooting was targeted and attributed it to “workplace violence”.
Figueroa, 40, of Monterey Park, was arrested and charged with the murder, attempted murder and possession of a firearm with a prior violent conviction and being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to court records. He is awaiting the setting of a date for a preliminary hearing.
The complaint names Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology, Spartan Education Group LLC, Good Guard Security Inc., American Guard Services, Figueroa and others.
The complaint alleges that neither the security company nor Spartan College conducted even the most basic of background checks that would have easily identified Figueroa’s extensive criminal history that included multiple counts of robbery stemming from a case in 2007. Figueroa’s security guard license had expired nearly 14 years earlier, but that also wasn’t checked or flagged by the security company or Spartan College, the suit filed Aug. 19 contends.
