Poor paint job resulted in teacher injury, Fresno Unified says in lawsuit
Fresno Unified has filed a lawsuit against Pacific Rim Painting after a teacher was injured as a result of alleged “negligence” on the company’s part during a job at Vinland Elementary.
The lawsuit alleges that a teacher sustained “serious and permanent injuries” after her hand went through a glass window while trying to open it after it that had been painted shut from the outside.
“As result of these injuries, Fresno Unified School District paid and continues to pay workers’ compensation benefits to employee,” the filing reads.
The district says the incident occurred on Aug. 13, 2023 — two months after Pacific Rim Painting was awarded the $109,000 bid. This was also one day before the 2023-2024 school year began, per an academic calendar catalogued by the Internet Archive.
Fresno Unified continued to award jobs to the contractor after the incident.
At a May 22, 2024 board meeting, the company was awarded two exterior painting bids — one at Bullard High for $319,450, and one at Eaton Elementary for $84,450.
About a year later, the district denied a claim for damages by Pacific Rim Painting, in which the company alleged it “furnished $656,510.59 of services yet has only been paid $323,785.17.” Allegedly, the district’s inspector said there were “additional items needing to be addressed” at the last minute, including sanding, repainting, and the patching of cracks. As a result, the company says it “incurred significant labor and materials costs.”
About three months after denying Pacific Rim Painting’s claim, Fresno Unified filed a lawsuit seeking “compensatory damages” stemming from the Aug. 2023 incident, highlighting past and future workers compensation payments to the injured teacher.
A case management conference has been set for Dec. 30.
Fresno Unified spokesperson Diana Diaz confirmed there’s “an ongoing legal action over who is legally responsible for the injury.” She also explained why the district continued to work with the company after the 2023 incident, as district policy mandates that bids go to the “lowest responsible bidder.”
“There was no legal adjudication as to fault in early 2024 which could have precluded any properly licensed contractor from bidding,” Diaz said. “Should it be determined that any particular contractor was, in fact, legally responsible for the injury as a result of any proven negligent workmanship, District would have the ability to evaluate any such findings and evidence and consider, at that time, whether to bring a due process legal proceeding to prevent such contractor from further bidding under the circumstances presented.”
The district did not disclose how much it has paid the injured teacher in workers compensation payments. Attempts to reach Pacific Rim Painting were unsuccessful.
The lawsuit is the district’s latest controversy regarding its process of awarding bids.
During a May 28 board meeting, trustees Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas and Veva Islas expressed concerns over wage theft claims against one of the contractors, H.B. Restoration.
Owner Emmanuel Rozakis denied the allegations, and the board voted to approve the bid with a vote of 5-0, as Islas and Jonasson Rosas both abstained. Jonasson Rosas told The Bee she abstained “out of frustration,” as discussion surrounding Fresno Unified’s bidding process hasn’t progressed.
This story was originally published September 27, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
