Two former students of a California private high school have been awarded $1 million after being forced to withdraw from the institution after a photo of the teens wearing acne masks was falsely deemed ‘blackface.’
A Santa Clara County jury awarded the former students $500,000 each and $70,000 tuition after siding with them on two of the five claims made in a lawsuit, according to The San Francisco Chronicle.
“Tragically, defendants achieved their goal of portraying (the) plaintiffs as poster children of racism at (Saint Francis High School), resulting in the devastating destruction of the boys’ young lives,” attorneys for the Dhillon Law Group wrote in the complaint.
In 2020, the former students, identified in court records only as HH and AH, filed a $20 million lawsuit against the Saint Francis High School in Mountain View, California after they were forced to withdraw from the school following old photos from 2017 going viral which led to false racial accusations against them, including of putting on ‘blackface.’
Frank Hughes, the father of one of the students, said they won on the claims of lack of due process and breach of oral contract.
Although, he and the other plaintiffs lost claims on breach of contract as well as defamation.
“Our primary goal was to clear (our clients’) names,” said the plaintiffs’ attorney Krista Baughman. “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.”
At the time the photo was taken, the two plaintiffs, who were 14 at the time, and a third boy who did not go to the school were wearing green face masks for acne.
Following the death of George Floyd in 2020, the photo reemerged online and St. Francis students and parents claimed the boys were being racist and pressured the school to penalize them.
As a result, the school gave the boys an ultimatum, voluntarily withdraw or be expelled.
The jury found the school guilty of two of the five claims made in the suit.
Hughes wound up moving to Utah in order so that his son would be eligible to play football. Moving expenses were also paid by the school.
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