According to the
Los Angeles Times, a federal judge in
Orange County has ruled that Charlene Nguon's rights were
not violated when the then-principal of Santiago
High School, Ben Wolf, revealed her homosexuality to
her mother. The ruling comes 10 months after the
trial, at which Nguon claimed she was singled out for
hugging and kissing her girlfriend, whereas similar
activities among heterosexual couples went
unpunished.
In the ruling,
U.S. district judge James V. Selna found that while Wolf
outed Nguon to her mother, he did so in order to explain why
she was being punished. Selna also ruled that the
punishment was not motivated by Nguon's sexual
orientation. Nguon's attorney, Christine Sun with the
ACLU, had argued that there was no reason for Wolf to
disclose her sexual orientation to her mother as it
had nothing to do with her punishment.
Nguon's attorneys
plan to appeal the ruling. They also point out that
there was a small victory in the ruling: that school
officials do not typically have the right to out a
student.
The attorney for
the Garden Grove Unified School District said the
district would file a motion seeking repayment of legal fees
from the plaintiff -- up to $400,000. (The
Advocate)
