Brevard School board weighing settlement in mask case of child with special needs
VIERA, Fla. - The Brevard school board wants to settle a lawsuit filed by a family who claimed their special needs' daughter was forced to wear a mask.
It happened about two years ago, and the family said the school abused their child by tying a mask on her face.
After an investigation, police said there was no evidence to support those claims, but the school board is starting talks to settle.
Legal experts said it comes down to money and politics. When this all happened, people were protesting at local school board meetings, holding posters, demanding justice for this child.
The claims of child abuse and wrongdoing made national headlines, and Geoff Golub says that’s playing into a possible payout.
At the height of the fight over masks in schools, a photo of a 7-year-old with Down syndrome, named Sofia, circulated across the country. Her father said she came home from school wearing a mask the school put on her without his permission.
"Let’s face it. It’s all about money in the end," said Geoffrey Golub who’s a Florida board-certified criminal trial expert in Brevard County.
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A federal judge recently put an end to a $100 million lawsuit the family first filed, but now the school board wants a resolution.
In a 4-1 vote, the school board voted on Tuesday to start settlement talks which means the family could still get some money.
This comes after Indian Harbour Beach police said there was not enough evidence to support a criminal violation against the school staff, and no evidence to support that Sofia received a physical or emotional injury.
"It makes perfect sense for the school board to want to get rid of it if they can," Golub said.
He says the publicity, politics, and pressure created a difficult situation.
"It’s a lose-lose because let’s say we pay $300,000 of our tax money, and we win but we don’t get that money back and we settled for $200,000 – then we saved $100,000," the attorney added. He also doesn’t think the family had a strong case to begin with.
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Jennifer Jenkins is the one board member who voted against starting settlement talks. During the vote, she went on the record to voice why she didn’t agree with the majority.
"I think this is a wild misuse of taxpayer funds, and I want to be clear about where I stand on this and why I’m going to be voting the way that I’m voting," Jenkins stated.
FOX 35 did reach out to the family’s lawyer for comment on settlement discussions but did not hear back when this story was published.
Golub says he’s optimistic a potential settlement would speed things up. He says the family wants a payout and the school board wants to put an end to the controversial lawsuit.