Two teens who were innocently accused of wearing blackface and kicked out of an elite Catholic school in California prove it was just a green acne face mask and jointly Awarded more than $1 million in compensation.
According to the lawsuit, the former students at St. Francis High School in Mountain View were just 14 years old when they posed for a photo wearing the treatment during a sleepover in 2017 in solidarity with a friend suffering from severe acne. It is said that it was.
The treatment, purchased by one of the boy’s mothers, turned light green when applied and turned dark green when dry.
Their “innocent” selfie went viral after it was discovered and widely shared three years later during the height of the Black Lives Matter protests following the 2020 killing of George Floyd.
A Santa Clara County jury agreed this week that the school violated a verbal contract and failed to take proper procedures before expelling students in 2020. According to the Los Angeles Times.
The students, identified only as AH and HH in the lawsuit, will each be awarded $500,000 and will receive $70,000 in tuition reimbursement.
“This case is significant not only for our clients, but also because it has groundbreaking implications for all private high schools in California. High schools now have to , we are legally obligated to provide students with a fair process,” said Krista Bowman, one of the attorneys in the case. student.
“The jury duly found that St. Francis High School’s procedures were unfair to our clients and that the school was not above the law.”
AH’s family said in a statement: “We would like to sincerely thank the jury and court system for helping these boys and their families find justice, which paved the way for them to be exonerated for something they did not do. “It was written off,” he said.
The lawsuit originally sought $20 million. The jury rejected some of the boys’ claims, including defamation and freedom of speech violations.
School representatives said they “respectfully disagree” with the jury’s decision and are “exploring legal options,” including an appeal.
