Education Law

2 Teens Get $185K, Lawyer Gets $425K in School Webcam Spy Case

The school board of a suburban Philadelphia district has agreed to pay $610,000 to settle a suit by two students who say they were spied upon in their own homes via district-issued laptop computers equipped with webcams. Of that total, $175,000 will be put in trust for the student who…

Oct 12, 2010 5:44 PM CDT

Ohio School Plagued by Suicides Faces Two Lawsuits Over Bullying Response

A suburban Ohio school district that lost three high school youths to suicides and a fourth to an antidepressant overdose is facing lawsuits from two of the families who say the school failed to prevent the bullying that contributed to their deaths. A lawyer for the grieving families, Ken Myers,…

Oct 12, 2010 3:11 PM CDT

Judge OKs Teen’s Church of Body Mod Beliefs, Says School Must Let Her Wear Nose Stud

A lawyer for a 14-year-old high school freshman kicked out of school for wearing a peridot nose stud says a federal judge in Raleigh, N.C., ordered today that she be readmitted. However, an attorney for the school district declined to comment, reports the Associated Press. Ariana Iacono and her mother…

Oct 8, 2010 4:42 PM CDT

Rutgers E-Mail Sought re Now-Dead Student’s Complaint Roomie Was Spying on Him

A student who committed suicide after his roommate photographed him having sex in his dorm room and posted the footage on the Internet had complained to Rutgers University authorities shortly before he leapt to his death off the George Washington Bridge last month. Now Middlesex County prosecutors have obtained a…

Oct 7, 2010 11:23 PM CDT

ACLU Sues Over Student Nose-Piercing Suspension Despite Church of Body Modification Beliefs

The American Civil Liberties Union has sued a school board in North Carolina over its suspension of a teenage student for having a peridot stud in a nose-piercing. Because Ariana Iacono belongs, along with her mother, to the Church of Body Modification, the suit contends the suspension violates her constitutional…

Oct 6, 2010 11:49 PM CDT

Law Prof’s ‘Market Solution’ to Laptop Ban: Auction Right to Surf From Back Row of Class

The controversial classroom ban on student laptop use that some law schools have instituted is “a manageable problem with a market solution,” a law professor suggests. Instead of a total ban on laptops, law schools should auction back-row laptop rights to students who most want to use their personal computers…

Oct 4, 2010 9:58 PM CDT

Defunct Debt Collection Law Firm Found Liable for Nearly $24M

A shuttered debt-collection law firm has been found liable for $23.7 million in a suit claiming it withheld money from a onetime client: an Illinois agency pursuing debtors who defaulted on student loans. The Illinois Student Assistance Commission had claimed the firm, Friedman & Wexler, failed to turn over at…

Oct 4, 2010 11:31 AM CDT

Lawyer Calls Expert Toxicologist’s Bachelor’s Degree Into Question

The academic background of a James L. Ferguson, an Ohio toxicologist who testified in many criminal trials, is being questioned by a criminal defense lawyer who wonders if the former Franklin County coroner’s office employee even has a bachelor’s degree. Kort Gatterdam of Columbus, Ohio, represents Virginia LeFever, a woman…

Oct 1, 2010 5:56 PM CDT

‘Flurry of Lawsuits’ Accuse For-Profit Colleges of Misleading Students

A lawsuit claiming that Westwood College misled students about the value of a degree and their likely salaries after graduation is one of several suits filed against for-profit colleges after release of a critical government report. The Government Accountability Office report , released on Aug. 4, said 15 schools engaged…

Sep 28, 2010 2:02 PM CDT

Teacher of Year Resigns Over Blog Posts About Her Elementary School Students

A woman who had been named 2010 teacher of the year at Pillow Elementary School in Austin, Texas, has reportedly resigned under fire after administrators found out she had posted photos of some of her students on a personal blog accessible to the public. District administrators said in a written…

Sep 24, 2010 7:25 PM CDT

Denied Admission to NY Bar Due to $430K Student Loan Debt, Law Grad Tries Again

Updated: Refused admission to the New York state bar in 2009 on character and fitness grounds because of a reported $430,000 delinquent student loan balance, Robert Bowman is trying again to persuade the authorities to license him. And this time, it appears, his effort may be successful. In a motion…

Sep 22, 2010 10:17 PM CDT

ACLU Supports Teen Suspended for Nose Ring Worn for Body Modification Religion

The American Civil Liberties Union is supporting a 14-year-old North Carolina teen suspended from school for wearing a nose ring. Ariana Iacono says the First Amendment supports her right to wear a nose ring as part of her religion, the Associated Press reports. Iacono and her mother belong to the…

Sep 16, 2010 2:46 PM CDT

Boy, 10, Faces Potential Jury Trial After Allegedly Throwing Punch in Schoolyard Fight

Reportedly urged by his father to stand up to a school bully, a 10-year-old boy allegedly threw a punch at the other Edmond, Okla., youngster. Now he is facing a potential jury trial in a misdemeanor assault and battery case, after the city attorney decided to pursue charges, reports KFOR.…

Sep 9, 2010 10:35 PM CDT

School Dist. Lawyer Suspended With Pay, re Claimed Failure to Tell Police of Touch Incident

A school district lawyer in North Carolina has been suspended, with pay, amidst allegations that he may have played a key role in the district’s reported failure to notify law enforcement authorities, as required by state law, of allegations of improper conduct toward a student by a teacher. Authorities are…

Sep 9, 2010 10:07 PM CDT

Lawyer’s Legal Fight with School Is ‘Cautionary Tale of the Internet Age’

An estate planning lawyer in New York has rewritten his will and sued his son’s school over the suspension of the teen due to topless photos found on the youth’s laptop. Lawyer Herbert Nass claims it was unfair for the Horace Mann School, his own alma mater, to punish his…

Sep 1, 2010 3:21 PM CDT