The lawsuit did not name the reporters or their news organizations. The lawsuit alleges Sakell approached “two local reporters” in an attempt to reach a larger audience, the lawsuit said. Sakell also allegedly contacted students from James Madison University in Virginia, where Walders once taught, and falsely asserted in text messages that Walders’ “drugged, raped” and “impregnated” a student, and “forced her to have sex ‘for her degree,’” the lawsuit said. ![]() The emails allegedly said Walders had been caught having sex with students, according to the lawsuit.ĭiane Salisbury, executive director for the La Jolla Symphony & Chorus, told the San Diego Union-Tribune on Wednesday that Walders was on administrative leave from his position as choral director until further notice. The lawsuit includes examples of the alleged defamation, such as emails Walders believes Sakell sent to people including the executive director at La Jolla Symphony & Chorus, where Walders is the choral director, and a professional contact Walders had at St. “I don’t think there’s much of a case against me.” “I think he’s done it to himself,” Barrera said. At that time, Walders unsuccessfully sought a court order to block Sakell from spreading allegedly false information about what Walders and a female student were doing when Sakell allegedly interrupted their private encounter during an SDSU-sponsored trip to Austria in February 2017.īarrera said by telephone on Thursday that some of the comments the lawsuit says he made about Walders were taken out of context and he is not to blame for the consequences of Walders’ choices. The allegations echo similar claims Walders made against Sakell, his former teaching assistant, last year. In the lawsuit, Walders contends the misinformation has harmed his reputation and cost him professional opportunities. The lawsuit, filed April 2 in San Diego Superior Court, alleges defamation, public disclosure of private facts and other wrongdoing by former SDSU music students Michael Sakell and Jess Barrera. Marshall declined further comment because it is a personnel matter. Patrick Walders has worked for the university since 2011 and continues to hold his job there, though he has been suspended with pay for more than a year as officials investigate a complaint stemming from an alleged sexual relationship with a female student.Ĭory Marshall, a spokesman for the university, provided a statement this week confirming that Walders remained in his job but was not teaching or conducting. The director of choral studies at San Diego State University has filed a lawsuit against two former music students who he claims defamed him in connection with an alleged affair with a student.
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