Sonoma County jury added more than $2 million in punitive damages after awarding seven women roughly $13 million
A Sonoma County jury on Wednesday ordered former Windsor Mayor Dominic Foppoli to pay more than $2 million in punitive damages, days after the same panel unanimously found him civilly liable for sexually assaulting seven women over nearly two decades and awarded them roughly $13 million in compensatory damages in Santa Rosa.
Foppoli maintained his innocence after Friday’s verdict and rejected the jury’s findings outside the courthouse.
“They are trying to crucify me for a cause that I’m not responsible for. Like I said I’ve always maintained my innocence,” Foppoli said.
The punitive awards ranged from $110,000 to $720,000 per plaintiff, bringing Foppoli’s total exposure to roughly $15 million. The jury also ordered the Santa Rosa chapter of Active 20-30, a civic club to which Foppoli belonged, to pay $10,000 in punitive damages after previously awarding one plaintiff $2 million from the organization.
Lead plaintiffs’ attorney Traci Carrillo described Foppoli’s conduct during the trial as a pattern spanning different women and years.
“It’s a serial pattern of predation. A predator. Predator acts on a variety of women using his position of power, influence,” Carrillo said.
The lawsuit, filed in April 2022 as Jane Doe #1 v. Foppoli, accused Foppoli and other defendants of sexual assault and battery and other civil violations, according to Sonoma County Superior Court records.
Foppoli resigned as Windsor mayor in May 2021 after multiple women publicly accused him of sexual assault. He has never been criminally charged in connection with the allegations. California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office suspended its criminal investigation in 2024, saying prosecutors lacked sufficient evidence to bring charges in cases not barred by the statute of limitations.
Foppoli’s attorney, Andrew Watters, told Fox News Digital after Friday’s verdict that the defense planned to seek a mistrial and, if unsuccessful, appeal. Foppoli also faces a separate civil lawsuit from former reality television personality Farrah Abraham, who accused him of raping her in Florida in 2021. He has denied that allegation.
