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A California jury has awarded $1 million to two former students in their case against a private high school in the Bay Area that forced them to withdraw after a photo of the teens wearing acne masks was interpreted as blackface.
The Santa Clara County jury sided with the former students on two of the five claims made in the lawsuit, awarding them $500,000 each and $70,000 tuition reimbursements to the boys four years after they were swept up in a racial controversy that led to them being forced to withdraw from Saint Francis High School in Mountain View, Calif.
“Our primary goal was to clear (our clients’) names,” the plaintiffs’attorney, Krista Baughman, told the San Francisco Chronicle after the jury’s decision on Monday. “It was quite clear the jury believed these were innocent face masks. They are young kids, their internet trail is going to haunt them for the next 60 years. Now they don’t have to worry about that.”
A California jury has awarded $1 million to two former students in their case against a private high school in the Bay Area that forced them to withdraw after a photo of the teens wearing acne masks was interpreted as blackface. (iStock)
In 2020, the former students, identified in court records as H.H. and A.H., and their parents initially filed a lawsuit against the private school for $20 million after old photos from 2017 went viral and led to accusation against the boys of doing blackface. In the photo, the two plaintiffs, who were 14 at the time, and a third boy who did not attend St. Francis are posing in front of a mirror wearing green face masks, which the lawsuit said were acne medications.
After the photo reemerged online in June 2020, amid the racial reckoning that followed George Floyd’s death in police custody, other St. Francis students and parents speculated that the boys were making a racially charged joke and pressured the school to take action against them.
The plaintiffs argued that as a result of public pressure, the school gave the two boys an ultimatum to either voluntarily withdraw or be expelled, the Chronicle reported.
“Defendants took it upon themselves to use the innocent and wholly unrelated photograph of the boys to make the malicious and utterly false accusation that the boys had been engaging in ‘blackface,’ and to recklessly assert that the photograph was ‘another example’ of racism at SFHS,” the suit states.
“The boys did not use the facemasks or take the photograph with any ill-intent, bias or prejudice, let alone in connection with any racist sentiments or epithets,” it continues.
The jury found the school guilty of two of the five claims made in the lawsuit, including failing to do a proper investigation and breach of an oral contract. (iStock)
The jury found the school guilty of two of the five claims made in the lawsuit, including failing to do a proper investigation and breach of an oral contract.
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“We appreciate the jury’s verdict rejecting the plaintiffs’ two primary claims of defamation and breach of contract and thank them for their thoughtful analysis.The jury rightly found we did not breach our handbook, did not violate the students’ free speech rights, and did not defame the students,” a spokesperson from the school told Fox News Digital in an emailed statement. “However, we respectfully disagree with the jury’s conclusion as to the lesser claim regarding the fairness of our disciplinary review process and are exploring legal options, including appeal as there is no legal precedent applying that claim to a high school.”
“We are grateful for the strong support of our community throughout this case,” the statement continued. “We look forward to putting this matter behind us so we can return to focusing solely on educating our vibrant student body and living the Catholic values of the Holy Cross tradition, which are rooted in hope, respect, integrity and family.”
Teny Sahakian is an Associate Producer/Writer for Fox News. Follow Teny on Twitter at @tenysahakian.
