Pa. school settles 2 webcam spy lawsuits for $610K

[n2doc]

By MARYCLAIRE DALE, Associated Press Writer

Monday, October 11, 2010

(10-11) 18:48 PDT PHILADELPHIA (AP) --

A Philadelphia-area school district will pay $610,000 to settle two lawsuits over secret photos taken on school-issued laptops.

The Lower Merion School District admits it captured thousands of webcam photographs and screen shots from student laptops in a misguided effort to locate missing computers.

Harriton High School student Blake Robbins says the district photographed him 400 times in a two-week period, sometimes as he slept in his bedroom.

District officials voted Monday to pay Robbins $175,000, a second student $10,000 and their lawyer, Mark Haltzman, $425,000. The district's insurer will pay $1.2 million toward legal and settlement costs.



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/10/11/national/a181359D29.DTL&tsp=1

[Rex]

1. All of this over some Big Brother wannabees and the local kids pay in the end.

Speaking of pay. Wow, it really pays to be a lawyer! Kaching!

[pepperbear]

2. with all due respect, it would appear that this was their only recourse for action...

as they felt their civil rights had been violated by a government entity. they didn't have a criminal case because technically a law hadn't actually been broken. should they have just let them continue spying? that's really alright with you?

"big brother wannabe?" really? the school had cameras running in private homes. they even commented and chastised a student on behavior they THOUGHT THEY saw. they didn't "wannabe" anything. they WERE BEING.

[Canuckistanian]

3. +1

Good analysis of the situation.

[TexasObserver]

12. Yet another insurance industry developed meme.

The insurance company had to pay. Not the district. Not the kids.

The district will probably have to pay increased premiums in the future because of their misconduct, but they didn't pay a dime of this money.

The insurance industry has worked hard for decades to shape the opinions of people just like you, and it has worked. You should be appalled at the actions of the school district. You should be appalled that the only person who actually did anything about the problem was an attorney who took on the job for free, with only a slight chance of getting paid at all. That's the guy you should be thanking. All those elected officials in the district and state did nothing to help the problem.

The insurance industry loves it when you let them off the hook for the $600,000 they spent on THEIR attorneys fees, paying some GOP law firm to defend them.

[TexasObserver]

4. Good! I hope all who said they'd never collect a dime will come forward.

I remember some keyboard warriors who opined they'd get nothing.

[Generic Other]

5. lawyer gets the most money

wow!

[jberryhill]

7. Uh, yeah.... Who took the risk with their own livelihood here?

Did Mom and/or Dad give up their paycheck for several weeks?

No.

You go find a "good cause" to pursue, quit doing paid work for a while, and let us know how that works out for you.

[TexasObserver]

10. That's because the lawyer is the one who did all the work.

Not the parents. Not the kids.

Notice that the district's legal fees were higher than that, as is obvious by reading the $1.2 mil the district's insurer spent on attorneys fees defending the case. You see, the only reason these families get anything at all is because the attorney put $400,000 worth of time and staff overhead into the case. The insurers don't pay because they think the kids and their families deserve to get paid. They pay because the lawyer has been whipping their ass and making them pay through the nose for defense costs.

When you stand back and look at it, you'll realize that the district spent as much on attorneys fees defending the case as the plaintiffs and their attorney got combined. It's the district and their attorneys who bid the costs up so high. They could have settled early for a more reasonable figure, but they drove the costs up, purposely. That's how the monied side of cases often plays it. They think they can bid the plaintiffs' side out of the case by overwhelming them with work and costs. That works much of the time, except when the plaintiffs' attorney is able to put more time and money into the case.

When the plaintiffs' attorney runs that gauntlet, the insurers look up one day and say "dammit, we should have settled this thing already." Then it gets settled, because and only because the plaintiffs' attorney has kicked their asses and it is getting worse.

None of you who begrudge the plaintiffs' attorney their pay day are anywhere to be found when the plaintiffs' attorney doesn't get paid on a case, when they eat the months and months of overhead for staff who have been working the case.

Thank the plaintiffs' attorney. He's the one and the only one who actually made this happen. Without the plaintiffs' attorney, this would just be another instance where millions of people would whine and grouse about the problem, but do nothing. How much did you spend to attack the problem? Even one dollar?

[OregonBlue]

6. While it's sad the attorney's get the bulk of it, I hope this makes school districts stop and think

before they decide to pull this shit on students. The school got exactly what they deserved.

[Dappleganger]

9. What's really scary...

is when they stop and think, then do it anyway.

[TexasObserver]

11. Why is that sad?

The plaintiffs all had to approve the settlement. The attorney got paid an amount that was compensatory. Do you have any idea how much it costs to front a case like this one? Who do you think pays all the costs associated with it? The experts. The staff who support it. Those legal secretaries, law clerks, and legal assistants have to be paid. The attorneys who work it have to draw salary.

What's a shame is that people like you worry about the fact that the only person who actually did anything to attack this problem - the plaintiffs' attorney - he is the one you resent. Congratulations. You're living proof that the insurance industry's 30 year campaign of indoctrination has worked.

[kas125]

15. Everybody hates lawyers - until they need one. n/t

[TexasObserver]

17. Yes. And even then, it doesn't really go away.

There's a few weeks of bliss after you kick someone's ass for a client, but a month later, they get the bill.

[OregonBlue]

18. Overreact much?????????? LOL

[TexasObserver]

19. Give credit where it is due.

If you can.

[PCIntern]

8. ...and may those fuckers rot in Hell.

And anyone who defends them as well...

As many of you know, I had one of those cameras in my house for a year, and God help them if I ever run into any of those directly responsible for this violation of the sanctity of my Home.

[RKP5637]

13. Yep, I recall well following the posts on this. Congratulations to all. Maybe this

will make other schools think more about home surveillance implications. IMO, even $610,000 was not enough. IMO someone should be doing time too.

[derby378]

14. And, in the end, the school disctrict doesn't have to admit wrongdoing

What the hell is wrong with this picture?

[TexasObserver]

16. "The district's insurer will pay $1.2 million toward legal and settlement"