School district officials in Washoe County, Nev., are considering paying the former student $451,000 to settle claims of discrimination and harassment based upon his sexual orientation.
The proposed settlement also would amend three district policies to better protect the civil rights of gay and lesbian students.According to court documents, the harassment was so pervasive – ranging from verbal taunts to being punched in the face and lassoed around the neck – that Henkle, now 21 and living in Atlanta, transferred to three different high schools to escape it.
Henkle alleges administrators ignored threats of violence and physical attacks at three Washoe County high schools between fall of 1995 and fall of 1996.
At Washoe High, he said Principal Bob Floyd warned him against "acting like a fag." At Wooster, he said school police officers neglected to intervene when he was repeatedly punched in the face.
"When school officials constantly switched me from school to school, they said they were keeping me safe. In fact they didn't care about me at all, they just wanted to sweep the abuse under the rug," Henkle said in an interview two years ago.
Henkle finally obtained a graduation equivalency diploma.
In his lawsuit, Henkle says the harassment prevented him from getting his high school diploma and undermined his professional marketability.
According to court documents, school staff witnessed several incidents but refused to intervene and instead told Henkle to keep his sexuality private, a request his lawyers said violated his First Amendment right to freedom of speech and expression.
Superintendent Jim Hager says the district doesn't admit wrongdoing in the proposed agreement and added that the district's liability insurance would cover the settlement.
The school board is scheduled to take a final vote on the settlement August 27.