10 Years Ago Today Lower Merion School District Was Embroiled In ‘Spygate’ Litigation
On July 20, 2010, The Inquirer’s Editorial Board weighed in on what was already a “six-month legal saga,” that began in February of that year, when the parents of a 15-year-old Harriton High School student sued Lower Merion School District, alleging that the district had invaded their son’s privacy.
In their lawsuit, the parents claimed that the assistant principal at Harriton had confronted the student, and told him that he had “engaged in improper behavior in his home, and cited as evidence a photograph from the webcam embedded in his personal laptop issued by the school district.”
The case drew worldwide attention and came to be known as “Spygate.”
In June of 2010, reports surfaced that the school district’s legal fees to defend the lawsuit were approaching a million dollars. And LMSD’s insurance carrier (Graphic Arts Mutual Insurance) was claiming that they were not responsible for covering the costs of the claim. So LMSD sued the insurance company, and the insurance company counter-sued the district.
In October of 2010, after arriving at a settlement with Graphic Arts Mutual, the school district abrubtly ended its defense of the lawsuit. LMSD paid the family that filed suit $175,000. The family’s attorneys were paid $425,000.