Two California teenagers who were forced to withdraw from an elite Catholic high school over accusations of blackface have been awarded $1 million and tuition reimbursement.
A Santa Clara County jury sided with the teens, identified by the initials AH and HH, in two claims involving breach of oral contract and lack of due process.
The boys sued Saint Francis High School in August 2020 after photos of them sporting acne treatment masks circulated.
The controversy began when the boys were accused of blackface and were eventually pressured to withdraw from the prestigious Mountain View school.
“It was pretty clear that the jury believed these were innocent face masks,” attorney Krista Baughman told the San Francisco Chronicle after Monday’s ruling.
‘They are little children, their Internet trail will haunt them for the next 60 years. Now you don’t have to worry about that.’
Two California teenagers who were forced to withdraw from a prestigious Catholic high school over “blackface” allegations received $1 million and tuition reimbursement Monday.
The boys sued Saint Francis High School in August 2020 after photos of them wearing acne treatment masks circulated three years earlier.
The boys were accused of blackface painting and were eventually pressured to withdraw from the prestigious Mountain View school.
The teens lost three other lawsuits for breach of contract, defamation and violation of free speech.
The plaintiffs initially sought $20 million when they filed suit in Santa Clara County Superior Court, three years after they and a friend, who attended another school and was not included in the lawsuit, took a selfie while putting on masks to treat acne.
In the offending photo, the children’s faces were covered in dark green medications. A photo taken the day before revealed that they had also tried on white masks.
According to documents reviewed by DailyMail.com, another SFHS student obtained a copy of the photo from a friend’s Spotify account and uploaded it to a group chat in June 2020.
The photo resurfaced the same day that recent SFHS graduates created a meme related to the murder of George Floyd, which sparked their own outrage and controversy.
The student implied that the teens were wearing ‘blackface’ and deemed the photo ‘another example’ of racist SFHS students, before urging everyone in the group chat to spread it throughout the school community.
On June 4, 2020, Dean of Students Ray Hisatake called the children’s parents to ask if they were aware of the photograph.
The parents claimed that the teens had put on green masks three years earlier, “without malicious intent or racist motivation, or even knowledge of what ‘blackface’ meant,” according to the lawsuit.
The offensive photo resurfaced the same day that recent SFHS graduates created a meme related to the murder of George Floyd, sparking their own outrage.
Principal Katie Teekell told one of the children’s parents that she could choose to leave “voluntarily” and that any mention of disciplinary action would be expunged from her record, but she later went back on her promise.
Less than four business hours later, Principal Katie Teekell called HH’s parents and told them the teen was “not welcome at SFHS.”
When the boy’s father reiterated that his son had not painted himself black, Teekell responded that his decision was not based on “intent” but on “optics” and “the harm caused to the St. Francis community.”
Teekell said HH could choose to withdraw “voluntarily,” rather than be expelled, expunging the incident from his student record.
“At no time did Ms. Teekell, nor anyone else in the SFHS administration, offer to investigate the allegations against the children, nor assist in removing the photograph in any way,” the lawsuit states.
On June 17, the school’s attorney told families that the image’s “disrespect was so serious that it warranted immediate dismissal.”
The school then backed a protest by parents who used the image as evidence that “kids participating in blackface (sic) and thinking this is all a joke,” according to a Facebook page.
The teens finally dropped out on June 19, but HH ran into a problem when he tried to join his new school’s soccer team.
Despite Teekell’s promise, SFHS was required to reveal that it had changed schools to avoid disciplinary action. This would prevent him from playing sports for a year, according to regional rules.
The lawsuit asserted that the director’s violation of their oral agreement constituted a breach of oral contract.
Eventually, HH moved to Utah with his family so he could play football during his senior year of high school.
As part of the jury award, SFHS must reimburse the teen’s moving and living costs.
“This lawsuit is our attempt to redeem our names and reputations, and to correct the record to reflect the truth of what really happened,” the boys’ families said in a joint statement at the time.
‘A photograph of this innocent event was plucked from obscurity and grossly mischaracterized during the height of nationwide civil unrest.
They claimed that SFHS and its leaders had “rejected” their attempts to correct the misunderstanding and “appeared to have no interest in learning the truth.”
Judge Thang Barrett decided not to dismiss the lawsuit in January 2021, noting that there was no evidence of an investigation into the matter by the administrators.
After Monday’s verdict, SFHS issued its own statement.
School representatives said they “respectfully disagree with the jury’s conclusion regarding the minor claim regarding the fairness of our disciplinary review process.”
SFHS is now ‘exploring legal options,’ including an appeal.
