Wednesday, April 8, 2009
No one likes bullying, but the story here seems less about the religious aspect and more about the crazy costs of doing business in the age of lawsuits when there are insurance policies in play. Sounds like the school did everything they could, but ended up paying anyway:
The Washoe County School District in the Reno area will give Egyptian former student Jana Elhifny $350,000 and her non-Muslim friend and supporter Stephanie Hart $50,000 as part of the civil settlement.
Elhifny and her family came to Reno from Egypt in 2003, and the girl enrolled as a freshman at North Valleys High School.
She didn't finish the year after she told teachers and administrators that someone had threatened to kill her in the stairwell because of her Muslim hijab or head scarf, the district's independent attorney in the case, Robert Cox, told FOXNews.com.
Shortly afterwards, Cox said, Elhifny filed the lawsuit and returned to Egypt, where she married her fiancé....
The lawsuit, handled by U.S. District Court in Reno, alleges that Elhifny faced death threats and harassment and school administrators did nothing to stop the abuse.
Cox said that wasn't true, and the teen was unable to give any description of her tormenter -- including his or her gender, size and tone of voice...
...Cox said school officials couldn't confirm the stairwell death threat story.
"They tried to prove that, tried to track down who it was, but without a description ... that couldn't be done," he said. "The district did watch her constantly and had people in the hallway."
He said the settlement was agreed upon to end lengthy and "expensive litigation." The case has been fought in the courts for the past four years, according to Cox...
..."Ms. Elhifny and Ms. Hart had the courage to stand up for themselves and defend their right to a safe education," said Peter Obstler, a San Francisco attorney who handled the young women's lawsuits with the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada.
Hart, a non-Muslim who says she was ostracized when she befriended Elhifny at North Valleys High School and also dropped out, will receive $50,000. Cox said she was a supporter of Elhifny's rather than a victim and never complained to school officials before getting involved in the lawsuit.
The settlement was announced early Wednesday. The monetary award will be paid by the district's insurance carrier.
[h/t: Phil]
