Four former Oswego High School students filed a lawsuit in Kendall County Circuit Court on Wednesday alleging years of grooming, sexual harassment and sexual misconduct by a former District 308 teacher and coach, along with systemic failures by the district to protect students.

Named in the lawsuit is Sean Staffeldt and the District 308 School Board.

The 90-page lawsuit, which seeks damages of more than $50,000, was filed by Chicago-based Disparti Law Group on behalf of the former students.

Staffeldt could not be reached for comment.

“The one thing I feel that I need to emphasize is that a large reason we’re standing in front of you today is for all of the children that, God forbid, have experienced or are currently experiencing something similar,” said one of the plaintiffs and former student Jillian Lake during a press conference Wednesday. “We hope that this makes you feel safe to come forward.”

Oswego School District 308 Chief Communications Officer Theresa Komitas said the district has not been formally served with the lawsuit.

“We will provide further comment in the event the district is served and after it has reviewed the official documentation,” she said.

This is the second time in two years the district has faced such a lawsuit. In June 2024, the district and the Oswego School Board reached a $913,500 settlement agreement with a former Oswego East High School student who alleged in a federal lawsuit that she was sexually abused by a former Oswego East teacher.

That former student had also been represented by Disparti Law Group.

According to the complaint, the district received warnings and complaints dating back years about Staffeldt’s behavior, including reports from staff members and a written warning issued in 2017 directing him to maintain professionalism and prohibiting him from allegedly hugging and touching students.

The lawsuit alleges the district failed to take meaningful action to protect students. Staffeldt resigned from the district in July 2020 after the district initiated an investigation into his alleged behavior.

“These four brave young women endured years of grooming, sexual harassment, sexual abuse and manipulation by their former Oswego High School teacher and coach, Sean Staffeldt,” Cass Casper of Disparti Law Group said at the press conference. “This case is about holding both Staffeldt and Oswego School District 308 accountable for a pattern of predatory conduct that the district knew about, but failed to stop.”

Staffeldt was a physical education teacher and a football, wrestling and track coach at Oswego High School for approximately 12 years.

The lawsuit alleges that after he resigned, District 308 failed to enforce a no trespassing order banning him from school grounds.

“The district repeatedly failed to enforce this order, allowing Staffeldt to violate it with impunity in 2024 and 2025 and creating the potential for more victims,” the lawsuit states. “In September 2025, after Staffeldt’s repeated infractions and presence on school grounds, multiple victims publicly disclosed their abuse on social media, which itself triggered dozens of additional victims to come forward,” the suit states.