A San Francisco Superior Court judge has denied a motion to delay proceedings in a civil lawsuit that alleges a Mendocino College professor sexually assaulted two underage students more than 20 years ago at San Francisco Waldorf High School, where he was employed as a substitute teacher and tutor. 

Jason Davis and his attorney Eric Schattl had filed a motion asking for a stay in proceedings in the civil lawsuit “until the conclusion of any related criminal investigation or until the threat of such an investigation has subsided.” A motion to stay in civil proceedings is when one party requests for the judge to temporarily pause a case from moving forward.  

Judge John True denied Davis’ motion, citing a failure to provide any evidence in support of it. 

True in his ruling wrote that the plaintiffs in the case have “already been waiting over two decades since the original alleged incident, so there is a high interest in proceeding expeditiously with this litigation.” 

On Friday, he wrote, “Ultimately, Davis does not cogently explain why the court should grant the stay. He fails to provide the court with any citations to the criminal statute of limitations for the prosecution he is concerned about, and he mentions a currently active police investigation, but provides no evidence.” 

The lawsuit alleges that Davis, who worked for Waldorf and a tutoring service called One Smart Kid, sexually assaulted two minors identified in court documents as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 in the early 2000s.   

The plaintiffs seek damages from Davis in connection with the alleged assaults and from Waldorf and One Smart Kid for what they allege was negligence in hiring and supervising Davis. The women seek punitive damages and the cost of the lawsuit, which was filed in May. 

The Mendocino Voice reached out to Davis for comment about the lawsuit, but he and his attorney have declined to respond. 

San Francisco Waldorf High School filed a response to the lawsuit denying all allegations against the school. One Smart Kid, which provides tutoring services for K-12 students in the Bay Area, also filed a response denying the allegations. 

A case management conference in the lawsuit is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on Oct. 15 at the Civic Center Courthouse in San Francisco.  

This story originally appeared in The Mendocino Voice.