MORRISTOWN, N.J., March 4 (UPI) -- A New Jersey teenager who says she was kicked out of her parents' home when she turned 18 has filed a lawsuit against her parents seeking college tuition.
Rachel Canning, a senior at Morris Catholic High School in Morristown, N.J., filed the lawsuit last week, alleging that she was "abandoned" by her parents, MyCentralJersey.com reported Tuesday.
The teen said that in late October, her parents, Sean and Elizabeth Canning, decided their daughter would be cut off "from all support both financially and emotionally," the lawsuit states.
"My parents have rationalized their actions by blaming me for not following their rules," Canning said in her court papers. "They stopped paying my high school tuition to punish the school and me and have redirected my college fund, indicating their refusal to afford me an education as a punishment."
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Canning in seeking a judge's declaration that she is still dependent as a student on her parents for support and has requested that a judge order her parents to pay the remainder of their daughter's high school tuition, her current living and transportation expenses, and commit an existing college fund to their daughter.
Sean Canning, said he and his wife did not force their daughter to move out, but rather she left voluntarily because she didn't want to do household chores.
"We love our child and miss her. This is terrible. It's killing me and my wife. We have a child we want home. We're not Draconian and now we're getting hauled into court. She's demanding that we pay her bills but she doesn't want to live at home and she's saying, 'I don't want to live under your rules,'" Sean Canning said.
A hearing for the case was scheduled for Tuesday.
