Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 22, 1994 TAG: 9407200015
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MONTGOMERY, ALA. LENGTH: Medium
The amount of money going to 17-year-old Revonda Bowen wasn't disclosed. Under the settlement, neither Randolph County High School principal Hulond Humphries nor the school board admitted wrongdoing.
Bowen, president of the junior class at the rural high school in Wedowee, filed a federal lawsuit in March seeking financial damages on her claim that Humphries, 55, threatened to cancel the prom if interracial couples planned to attend.
The daughter of a white father and black mother, Bowen also claimed Humphries told her that her parents' marriage and her birth were a ``mistake.''
She alleged violation of her civil rights.
Her attorney, Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, said the amount in the settlement will be disclosed when a judge approves the settlement.
Dees said the money will be given to Bowen when she reaches 19, although it can be used for her college education before then.
Attorneys for the principal and the school board could not be reached immediately by phone for comment.
Bowen, accompanied by her parents at a news conference at the Southern Poverty Law Center, said she was pleased with the settlement and wanted to ease divisiveness at the school as she enters her senior year.
A separate lawsuit filed by the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division accuses Humphries and the school board of violating prior anti-discrimination orders, citing in large part the principal's remarks on interracial dating. A federal judge has set the stage for negotiations to settle the case, with Humphries' removal as principal among the actions sought by the Justice Department attorneys.
by CNB