ROSEMONT, Pa., Oct. 12 (UPI) -- Pennsylvania's Lower Merion School District says it has settled lawsuits over student laptops, ending eight months of privacy versus technology boundaries.
The district will pay $610,000, including $185,000 to two students who claimed the district spied on them by secretly activating the Web cams on their laptops, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Tuesday.
Jalil Hasan who graduated Harriton High School this summer will receive $10,000. Blake Robbins will receive $175,000 held in trust until the junior graduates.
And their lawyer, Mark S. Haltzman, gets $425,000, the newspaper said.
The settlement announcement followed weeks of backroom negotiations between Haltzman and district lawyer Henry E. Hockeimer.
Two days of mediation were ordered by federal judges overseeing the cases and pressing for a resolution, the Inquirer said, as an acrimonious court fight could possibly have cost the district several million dollars.
"Although we would have valued the opportunity to finally share an important, untold story in the courtroom, we recognize that in this case, a lengthy, costly trial would benefit no one," school board President David Ebby said.
