An appeals court says a Dutchess County school district must pay $1 million to a man who was racially harassed for 3½ years in high school. WAMC’s Dave Lucas has more…
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday upheld the award for Anthony Zeno. He faced repeated harassment in the Pine Plains Central School District from 2005 to 2008. The 2nd Circuit said he faced racist, demeaning, threatening and violent conduct. It happened in the presence of friends, classmates and teachers at Stissing Mountain High School.
The court said a jury could find that the harassment would have a profound and long-term impact on Zeno's life. A school district lawyer did not immediately respond to a message for comment. A lawyer for Zeno praised the ruling.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.