BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
A jury has reached a $1 million verdict against a private high school in Mountain View that expelled two students after a photo of them wearing acne masks was interpreted as blackface.
The students, Holden Hughes and Aaron Hartley, will get $500,000 each from St. Francis High School after they were swept up in a racial controversy amid the Black Lives Matter movement.
Hughes and Hartley will also get reimbursed for tuition, which was estimated to be $70,000 total for their three years attending the school at 1885 Miramonte Ave.
Their attorney, Krista Baughman, said the ruling extends protections from a California Supreme Court decision that mandated fair procedure rights for students at private universities.
This case extends these protections to private high schools, including religious institutions, ensuring students receive notice of charges and a fair opportunity to respond before getting disciplined, Baughman 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,” Baughman said. “The jury rightly confirmed that St. Francis High School’s procedures were unfair to our clients and that the school is not above the law.”
Spokeswoman Jamie Perkins for St. Francis High School sent a statement yesterday: “We respectfully disagree with the jury’s conclusion … 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 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.”
A jury of 12 reached their verdict on Monday afternoon after seeing 20 days of testimony and deliberating for three days at the courthouse in downtown San Jose.
Hughes and Hartley both took the stand, court records show.
The picture of the boys, taken at a sleepover in August 2017, went viral during the Black Lives Matter movement and sparked a parent-led protest in June 2020.
Within 24 hours, administrators said the boys could either leave or be expelled ahead of their senior year, the suit said.
The blackface was actually a green face mask that darkened, the suit said.
Parent Alicia Labana was named in the original lawsuit for allegedly posting the photo on Facebook while organizing a march at the school.
But Judge Thang Barrett dismissed Labana from the suit, saying she has broad free-speech immunity.
Because of the controversy, Hughes said his family put up security cameras around their home and asked Los Altos police to do extra patrols.
Hartley said he had to move three hours away to finish high school online without getting harassed or ridiculed.
The boys said the controversy jeopardized their future college and career prospects. They lost friends, sleep and the final year of their high school experience, according to the lawsuit.
The jury found that St. Francis High School didn’t violate the students’ free speech rights nor defame the students, according to the school.
The jury did find that Principal Katie Teekell violated a nondisclosure agreement with Hughes, Baughman said.
The families put out a statement yesterday saying that 20% of their boys’ lives have been spent on the four-year legal process, but the sacrifice was worth it to clear their names.
“Schools are supposed to protect and nurture children, not sacrifice them when it is convenient for public relations purposes,” the Hughes family said.
They called on the Board of Directors to hold Teekell and President Jason Curtis accountable.
“Despite being afforded time to reflect and contemplate after the heat of the moment had subsided, President Jason Curtis and Principal Katie Teekell don’t regret their actions. They would do the same thing today,” the family said.
Some people are really overdoing it with all that PC nonsense!
A person cannot do anything anymore because otherwise surely offends someone somewhere sometime!
These kids were targeted because they were not kind to others. I feel badly for the situation but their character made others assume the worst
This is insane these boys were cleary implying racial harm and now their paid racists! Despite the money given to them the world will never forget what they did!!
The fact that you jump to that conclusion without being privileged or considering all the evidence presented at trial is one of the reasons the jury’s verdict read as it did. The boys had nothing to do with all the other racist things going on at SFHS at that time (Obama memes insta page, picture of George Floyd and etc.) The picture in question was taken ~4 years before these incidents Not every picture of boys wearing a dark acne face mask is black face. This case should now be pulic record, do all of us a favor and review all the evidence before spewing your hate on here.
The fact that you jump to that conclusion without being privileged or even considering all the evidence presented at trial is one of the many reasons the jury’s verdict read as it did. The boys had nothing to do with all the other racist things going on at SFHS at that time (Obama memes insta page, picture of George Floyd and etc.) The picture in question was taken ~4 years before those racist incidents. Not every picture of boys wearing a dark acne face mask is black face or hate. This case should now be pulic record, do us all a favor and review all the evidence before spewing any more hate towards these kids.
Totally agree with you!!!
You are wrong!!!!
This is a hilariously bad take
What racism does GREEN-face imply?
Never forget them wearing a dark green face mask? Ok buddy…
What does “implying racial harm” mean? I guess it’s woke-speak but I don’t get it.
I think the previous commenter meant to say “clearly” not cleary.
I’m glad we had a jury sort this out. The boys had their story and the school has its story. The jury believed the boys. Hope “woke” educators learned from this.
The picture was three years old when posted! Enough said. Great work Labana, how was that 15 minutes of fame?
I remember when this story first came out and was appalled that a student would even think to post a picture like that in the first place. Should be smarter going to St. Francis. If it was innocent the community would not have been in an outrage to begin with. There’s probably more to this story unpublished. Like behaviors of these boys at school towards other students. These families saw an opportunity and found a way to get paid and stick it to the school. I stand behind the school’s decision. Students must be accountable for their actions. Their original post was offensive in so many ways regardless if the photo was taken 3 years before. The school made the right decision to protect its community. I hope they win the appeal.
Are you really this stupid, or just a liar?
Slandering a child is “free speech immunity”?
These kids should have gotten more, the school got off light IMO.
Check your facts, Max. The jury did not find St. Francis at fault for defamation character. They did not slander those boys in any way. They stood behind their policies and student handbook. If they were so innocent, then why leave? If my kid was wrongly accused, best believe I would’ve stood my ground and let the process run its course. The premise of their “win” is that 1) the school didn’t fully investigate & 2) an agreement to withdraw from school to avoid disciplinary records in their files was broken. Why is no one pointing out that a full investigation didn’t happen because they left to avoid disciplinary action to begin with.
Let’s start with the facts. Two students in solidarity with a friend, who was instructed by a doctor to wear a green acne-fighting face mask, also wore the medication mask. St. Francis assumed the mask was black face. St. Francis shot first, asked questions later, then continued to insist they did nothing wrong, and the worst part is they won’t change their ways. The students suffered four years of personal attacks from St. Francis. That’s defamation in my book.
The family said it best: “Schools are supposed to protect and nurture children, not sacrifice them when it is convenient for public relations purposes.” Yeah, no kidding.
Now the question is why any parent would send their child back to that school? I say pull them out and bankrupt St. Francis. Find another school or, better, homeschool the kids.
Who is returning to the school? My guess is the hardened leftist in the comments above who were offended even though the thing they were offended by wasn’t real.