When Will They Learn?

When are school adminstrators going to learn that when they use a double standard for student discipline, they set themselves up to be on the losing end of a lawsuit?

A federal judge ruled that a lesbian student can sue her school district and her principal for revealing her homosexuality to her mother.

Charlene Nguon, 17, may go forward with her suit claiming violation of privacy rights, U.S. District Judge James V. Selna ruled in a decision dated Nov. 28 and announced Thursday by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.

Orange County's Garden Grove district had argued that Nguon openly kissed and hugged her girlfriend on campus and thus had no expectation of privacy.

However, the judge ruled that Nguon had "sufficiently alleged a legally protected privacy interest in information about her sexual orientation."

The above not withstanding, I think what makes this case such a loser for the district is the allegation that Nguon was punished for engaging in the same public behaviors that school officials were allowing her heterosexual classmates to indulge in.

Motarboard Tip: Right on the Left Coast
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