Student wins 450k for "mental pain" of being taught religion

[Gordon Freynman]

http://www.news.com.au/world/student...-1225964249497

A US judge has signed off on a $450,000 payout to a ninth-grade student who sued because he was taught religion in a public classroom.

Mount Vernon schools, in Licking County, Columbus, was forced to hand over the money to Zachary Dennis' parents Stephen and Jenifer for his "mental pain" at being taught about God, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
Teacher John Freshwater, who raised religion in Zachary's class, now faces being sacked from his job.

The $450,000 settlement, signed off by Judge Robert H. Hoover in Licking County Probate Court, includes an annuity of $150,000 to be paid to Zachary over 13 years.

This is hilariously retarded. Yay, for the school and likely the teacher for getting punished for bringing religion into the public classroom, but 450k for "mental pain"? Does he experience migraines every time someone mentions the word "God"? That's such an obvious bull- claim, they must have had the best lawyer in the world or the Judge was an atheist.

In related news, the student mentioned in the above article was found dead next to his computer in an apparent suicide after watching a NephilimFree video on YouTube.

[Captain Blackadder]

Well if I had being forced to listen to that rubbish in primary school then I would have some mental anguish too luckily my religious education ended after one week in preps and I never did it again and got to play on the schools computers latter Imacs.

[Sphere]

they must have had the best lawyer in the world or the Judge was an atheist.

It was an out of court settlement, the judge had nothing to do with the amount despite the articles best attempt to imply that he did.

If you take into account the lawyers fee's and likelihood of having to payout something at the end of it all (and cover the parents legal fees), the School probably did the shrewd thing. That being said, the parents should not have demanded such an amount. It's money coming out of a educational budget, show a little decency. $50,000 would have been more than adequate.

[Corvis]

I think not seeking money from a frivolous lawsuit would've been even more adequate.

[Squiggle]

It was an out of court settlement, the judge had nothing to do with the amount despite the articles best attempt to imply that he did.

If you take into account the lawyers fee's and likelihood of having to payout something at the end of it all (and cover the parents legal fees), the School probably did the shrewd thing. That being said, the parents should not have demanded such an amount. It's money coming out of a educational budget, show a little decency. $50,000 would have been more than adequate.

Zero dollars would have been more than adequate. The case should have been thrown out of court, and the kid/kids family should of had to pay for the legal fee's. Yeah, the teacher shouldnt have taught religion in school, and if necessary law should be involved to make sure he stops [though id doubt that would be required, a complaint to the principal is enough to force teachers into line], but the sueing is frivolous and therefore should be punished severely.

[Poach]

And people wonder where the "Only in America" adage comes from.

[Nyxos]

If I was taught creationism at school, i'd ask for $1 million for mental pain !

[Biggreenfellow]

Lol... The world is such a weird place these days.

[Brain_in_a_vat]

I wouldn't pass up the chance to nab myself half a million if I saw an opportunity. Neither would any of you I bet.

[Biggreenfellow]

I wouldn't pass up the chance to nab myself half a million if I saw an opportunity. Neither would any of you I bet.

I don't know... I have my principles, and even though it's a hell of a lot of money, I don't know if I'd have the nerve to do demand a sum as disproportionate like that based on a dreamt-up 'complaint' like that guy did. I mean, he knows it's BS. His folks know it's BS. That's a lot of BS to wade through, I think it would be embarrassing.

[RO Citizen]

I was forced 7 years to learn (or at least pretend to) crap about how the Christian God is the true one and all the others suck and atheists are worse than Nazis...damn, I should be a billionaire according to that court.

[CamilleBonparte]

and atheists are worse than Nazis

Not worse than....

[Boer]

It appears that this is the same case as the science teacher who supposedly used a Tesla coil to burn 2 crosses into the kid, which would change things quite a bit compared to simply being taught religion.

If this summary can be trusted, then the teacher deserves to be fired for not understanding the subject he was teaching:

Zach testified that Freshwater used Answers in Genesis as an internet resource in class, and assigned Zach to do some reading of AIG.

[Armenum]

wow, so this is how people get rich......

[Gromovnik]

Licking County... that's just priceless.

[John ''True Grit'' Wayne]

Im contacting a solicitor after seeing this

[MathiasOfAthens]

The Article doesnt say what the teacher taught but I am willing to bet the judge knows more and maybe the teacher was deeply religious and mixed in religion with everything. Im on the side of the judge until proven otherwise but I still disagree with the 450 mark thats just way too ing much. 100,000 is too much. Whats up with these claims for so much money...

[Thanatos]

Attending Mass gives me mental anguish. Not to the point of where I would ever start suing for damages, as that's just stupid, but it doesn't help that I'm bored to tears.

[Sir Winston Churchill]

Normally I dislike the idea of teaching religion of schools, but it would be hypocritical of me to think it's wrong when I believe Evolution should be taught. So in essense, I disagree with the case ruling.

[A Fistful Of Dollars]

Normally I dislike the idea of teaching religion of schools, but it would be hypocritical of me to think it's wrong when I believe Evolution should be taught. So in essense, I disagree with the case ruling.

Evolution isn't a religion, nor is an arguable subject that you can or can not believe in anymore. It exists, it's real.