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A former Woodside High School student is suing the Sequoia Union High School District after it allegedly failed to protect her from a volleyball coach who has been charged with sexual assault.
“We are seeking justice for our client and working to ensure no other student suffers under this district’s watch,” said attorney Lauren Cerri in a statement.
Thomas Feng, a 26-year-old resident of Fremont, was employed by the district as a volleyball coach for several years, going back to at least the 2021-2022 school year.
During his time as a coach at Woodside High, he allegedly had an inappropriate relationship with a student that started when she was 15 years old. Feng allegedly used his position of authority to groom the student and sexually assault her multiple times on school grounds and at school-sanctioned events, according to the complaint.
The former student filed a police report against Feng in June 2025. Earlier this year, he was arrested and charged with felony sexual assault of a person under the age of 18 years, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.
The lawsuit, which was filed on March 11 by Cerri, accuses the district of continuing to employ Feng and allowing him around students despite multiple people raising concerns to district employees over his alleged inappropriate behavior.
The district is accused of “failing to report a reasonable suspicion of child abuse by Feng to law enforcement” and “failing to properly respond to complaints of Feng’s misconduct including the two anonymous complaints that Feng was inappropriate with Plaintiff,” the lawsuit reads.
Rumors of the relationship between Feng and the student circulated on campus. Feng apparently groomed her by showing favoritism toward her during volleyball practices and games, texting her every day, and guaranteeing her a spot on the volleyball team, according to the lawsuit.
Students and volleyball players apparently saw the two kissing in the school parking lot, spending time alone together in each other’s cars, going out to lunch together alone and walking out of a storage closet together.
Sometime in 2023, a parent of another player on the school’s volleyball team complained to the athletic director about Feng’s inappropriate behavior and said he shouldn’t coach a girls’ volleyball team. The director apparently brushed off the concern, according to the lawsuit.
In the same year, two anonymous complaints were made to Woodside High School administrators regarding the inappropriate relationship. Both complaints were apparently dismissed as rumors, and no staff members reported the concerns to law enforcement or San Mateo County Child Protective Services, according to the lawsuit.
“By dismissing complaints, the district prioritized its reputation over the safety of students, leaving Feng in a position to do more harm,” Cerri said in a statement.
Feng was also a volleyball coach at Academy Volleyball, a volleyball club for youth with several locations in the Bay Area. The student also played at the club where she allegedly experienced the same abuse from Feng.
Academy Volleyball has been accused of negligence in the hiring and supervision of Feng. The club had also received complaints over Feng’s behavior but allegedly took no action to investigate them or report them to law enforcement, according to the lawsuit.
The school district and Academy Volleyball did not respond to requests for comment.
Anyone with information is urged to contact the law firm Cerri, Boskovich & Allard at 408-289-1417.
