Two students from the US who were expelled from school after being falsely accused of an alleged blackface photo have received $1 million each after proving they were just wearing an acne face mask.
The students and their mothers sued Saint Francis High School in California after a photo surfaced showing the boys wearing acne treatment masks.
According to the filed lawsuit, they took a selfie during their sleepover back in 2017 in solidarity with their friend who was suffering from severe acne.
The photo went viral in 2020 and was labeled by many as “blackface.” The teens clarified that this was just a joke and was not meant to be a racial insult.
A jury from Santa Clara County sided with the boys’ claims that the school broke the oral contract and had a lack of due process. The jury awarded them $500,000 (28.7 million pesos) each and tuition reimbursement of $70,000 (approximately 4 million pesos) to the two students.
“This case is significant not only for our clients but for its groundbreaking effect on all private high schools in California, which are now legally required to provide fair procedure to students before punishing or expelling them,” as stated by one of the students’ attorneys, Krista Baughman.
She added, “The jury rightly confirmed that Saint Francis High School’s procedures were unfair to our clients and that the school is not above the law.”
The initial lawsuit demanded $20 million (1.1 billion pesos) with claims of defamation and had their free speech violated but this was rejected by the court.
Saint Francis High School’s representatives said that they “respectfully disagree with the jury’s conclusion as to the lesser claim regarding the fairness of our disciplinary review process” and will be “exploring legal options” which is inclusive of appealing the judgment.
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