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California jury awards $1M to two ex-students wrongly accused of blackface after wearing acne cream
The two boys were forced out of their Catholic school, Saint Francis High School, after they were wrongly accused of blackface
Two former students were awarded $1 million by a California jury after they were accused of “blackface” after they were seen wearing acne cream. They were eventually forced out of their Catholic school, Saint Francis High School. The students later sued the school.
The Santa Clara County jury reportedly sided with the ex-students on two of the five claims made in the lawsuit. They were awarded $500,000 each as well as $70,000 tuition reimbursements. This comes four years after the incident.
"Our primary goal was to clear (our clients’) names," the plaintiffs’ attorney, Krista Baughman, told the San Francisco Chronicle after the jury’s decision on Monday. "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."
The events that transpired
The former students were identified as H.H. and A.H. Back in 2020, the boys and their parents filed a lawsuit against the school for $20 million after their photos, clicked in 2017, went viral and they were subsequently accused of doing blackface. The photos show the two plaintiffs, as well as a third boy who did not attend the same school, posing in front of a mirror wearing green face masks. The lawsuit claimed these were acne medications.
The photos were said to have re-emerged in 2020 in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder, when they were shared in a chat group. Parents assumed they were making a racist joke, and allegedly pressured the school to act against them.
According to the plaintiffs, the school gave the two boys an ultimatum due to public pressure. They were told they could either voluntarily withdraw, or be expelled. The plaintiffs were 14 at the time.
"Defendants took it upon themselves to use the innocent and wholly unrelated photograph of the boys to make the malicious and utterly false accusation that the boys had been engaging in 'blackface,' and to recklessly assert that the photograph was 'another example' of racism at SFHS," the suit states.
"The boys did not use the facemasks or take the photograph with any ill-intent, bias or prejudice, let alone in connection with any racist sentiments or epithets," it adds.
The jury eventually found the school guilty of two of the five claims made in the suit. These included failing to properly investigate and breach of an oral contract.
"We appreciate the jury’s verdict rejecting the plaintiffs’ two primary claims of defamation and breach of contract and thank them for their thoughtful analysis. The jury rightly found we did not breach our handbook, did not violate the students’ free speech rights, and did not defame the students," a spokesperson from the school told Fox News Digital. “However, we respectfully disagree with the jury’s conclusion as to the lesser claim regarding the fairness of our disciplinary review process and are exploring legal options, including appeal as there is no legal precedent applying that claim to a high school."
"We are grateful for the strong support of our community throughout this case," the statement added. "We look forward to putting this matter behind us so we can return to focusing solely on educating our vibrant student body and living the Catholic values of the Holy Cross tradition, which are rooted in hope, respect, integrity and family."
