Fairfax paid $141,000 to defend, then settle, lawsuit by falsely accused Sean Lanigan

After Fairfax County school teacher Sean Lanigan was acquitted of molesting a 12-year-old girl in 2010, he asked the Fairfax school district to reimburse his legal fees, as Virginia law allows. The district delayed for more than two years, requiring Lanigan to hire another lawyer and file suit, before paying him $72,838 in June. But Fairfax taxpayers paid almost twice that amount to try to keep the money out of Lanigan’s hands. It cost $141,030 for outside attorneys to defend and settle the suit, according to legal billings released by the school district.