Two California teens, identified by the initials A.H. and H.H., prevailed in a lawsuit against their high school which compelled them to leave the prestigious institution due to allegations of blackface.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the teens were granted $1 million in damages along with reimbursement for tuition fees by a Santa Clara County jury.
The jury sided with the teens on two claims involving breach of oral contract and denial of due process.
The outlet reported that boys initiated legal action against Saint Francis High School (SFHS) after facing accusations of blackface stemming from photos in which they were seen wearing acne treatment masks.
These accusations led to pressure on the boys to withdraw from the Mountain View school.
Attorney Krista Baughman, representing the teens, emphasized that the jury’s decision indicated their belief that the masks worn by the boys were innocent and not intended as blackface.
“It was quite clear the jury believed these were innocent face masks,” Baughman told the Chronicle. “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.”
The teens’ lawsuit included three additional claims alleging breach of contract, defamation, and violation of free speech, all of which they lost.
The plaintiffs filed suit in Santa Clara County Superior Court three years after they, along with a friend who attended a different school (not involved in the lawsuit), took a selfie wearing acne treatment masks.
They initially sought $20 million in damages.
The boys’ faces were obscured by dark green medication in the contentious photo. Notably another photo captured a day earlier showed them trying on white face masks as well.
Daily Mail reviewed documents revealed another student from SFHS acquired a copy of the photo from a friend’s Spotify account and shared it in a group chat in June 2020.
The image resurfaced on the same day that recent SFHS graduates created a meme related to the murder of George Floyd, sparking its own wave of outrage and controversy, per the outlet.
Principal Katie Teekell contacted H.H.’s parents less than four business hours later, informing them that the teen was “not welcomed back to SFHS.”
When the boy’s father reiterated that his son had not engaged in blackface, Teekell responded that her decision was not based on “intent,” but rather on “optics” and “the harm done to the St. Francis community.”
Teekell offered H.H. the option to “voluntarily” withdraw instead of facing expulsion, with the assurance that the incident would be removed from his student record, Daily Mail reported.
The lawsuit asserts, “’At no time did Ms. Teekell, or anyone else from the SFHS administration, offer to investigate the allegations against the boys, or assist in removing the Photograph in any way.”
The teens ultimately withdrew on June 19. However, when H.H. tried to join the football team at his new school, he encountered a problem: a one year ban from participating in sports.
SFHS was obligated to disclose that H.H. had changed schools to evade disciplinary action, despite Teekell’s assurance.
The boys’ lawsuit claimed that the principal’s failure to uphold her verbal agreement amounted to a breach of oral contract.
H.H. eventually relocated to Utah with his family to ensure his eligibility to play football during his senior year of high school.
SFHS is required to reimburse the teen for his moving and living expenses as part of the jury’s award,
“This lawsuit is our attempt to redeem our names and reputations, and to correct the record to reflect the truth of what actually happened,’ the boys’ families said in a joint statement at the time,” the suit states.
SFHS released a statement following Monday’s verdict that said the school “respectfully disagree with the jury’s conclusion as to the lesser claim regarding the fairness of our disciplinary review process.”
The post Teens Forced Out Of Catholic School For ‘Blackface’ Awarded $1M After Debunking Accusations appeared first on Resist the Mainstream.
Click this link for the original source of this article.
Author: Jordyn M.
This content is courtesy of, and owned and copyrighted by, https://resistthemainstream.org and its author. This content is made available by use of the public RSS feed offered by the host site and is used for educational purposes only. If you are the author or represent the host site and would like this content removed now and in the future, please contact USSANews.com using the email address in the Contact page found in the website menu.