There are times when you may do something but it is misunderstood by someone else. This can lead to problems, and that is certainly what happened in California.
It took place at a Catholic school when two teenagers who went to the school and another who went to a different school took a picture of themselves. They were only 14 years old at the time that the picture was taken.
Unfortunately, the image will come back to haunt them in the future because they ended up in a lot of trouble. Because they were wearing black on their face, people thought that they were wearing blackface, and they got expelled from school as a result.
In reality, the three boys were wearing an acne mask. One of the boys had to deal with this problem and the other two put the mask on to show their support. They then took the picture in 2017.
The mask was actually light green in color and when it dried, it turned a darker green to gray color. Two of the boys were expelled and they decided to take the school to court.
The image may have been taken in 2017 but it went viral in 2020 and started circulating on social media. This was during the time that the Black Lives Matter protests were taking place and the boys were expelled as a result.
As it turns out, the school did not provide due process before expelling the boys so they are now going to receive $500,000 each. The parents will also have the $70,000 tuition reimbursed.
The lawyer said: “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.
“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 school does not agree with the decision and they are exploring other options but for now, the family said: “We want to sincerely thank the jury and the court system for helping our boys and our families find justice, which now paves the way for their names to be cleared for things they never did.”
Perhaps the school should just be happy they weren’t awarded the $20 million that was sought in the initial lawsuit.