Introduction to the Case
A lawsuit alleging a south suburban school district failed to protect a student from sexual assault will be settled for $3.5 million, attorneys and the district announced Tuesday. Amayah Blair, now 19, reported being raped inside a practice room during theater class at Homewood-Flossmoor High School in October 2022 when students were paired off to practice lines. The school called her mom, Jessica Johnson, the police and the Department of Children and Family Services, but Blair and Johnson say the school didn’t do enough.
The Aftermath of the Incident
In the years since the reported rape, Blair finished high school online, watched her graduation date come and go without walking across the stage, struggled to keep a job and changed from a bright, bubbly person to someone who is followed by a dark cloud, Blair and Johnson said. The trauma made her anxious, nervous around new people and constantly on edge, they said. “Always happy, she had an energy about her,” Johnson said. “Dreams, aspirations, wanted to go to college and all of that halted after this.”
Jessica Johnson speaks at a news conference Tuesday about the settlement reached between her and her daughter and the Homewood-Flossmoor school district. “Always happy, she had an energy about her,” Johnson said. “Dreams, aspirations, wanted to go to college and all of that halted after this.”
Peyton Reich/For the Sun-Times
The Lawsuit and Settlement
Blair and Johnson filed a lawsuit against the district, naming Principal Clinton Alexander and Theater Director Deena Cassady. They alleged the school and its staff failed to protect Blair from a student who had a lengthy disciplinary history and reports of sexual harassment. Staff shouldn’t have let students alone in the room without supervision, the complaint says. The Homewood-Flossmoor school board voted to approve the settlement, which was encouraged and will be paid for by the district’s insurance company. But the settlement doesn’t mean the school admits wrongdoing in the case and “only the two students involved know what actually occurred,” the school said in a message to the Homewood-Flossmoor community posted on the district’s website.
Response to the Settlement
Johnson said in the complaint and at a news conference Tuesday announcing the settlement that the school didn’t respond accordingly because no one called an ambulance and offered Blair food and coffee that could have compromised a rape kit. Once Johnson arrived at the school, she was kept separate from her daughter, she said. Blair was later given a rape kit at a nearby hospital. The school’s response to the settlement was another “slap in the face,” Blair said, not only to her, but to any future students who try to report sexual misconduct at school. She said she felt “no relief.”
Amaya Blair, 19, and her attorney, Stephanie L. White, of the Law Offices of Stephanie L. White, P.C., speak during a press conference regarding the settlement of a lawsuit involving a sexual assault. The school’s response to the settlement was another “slap in the face,” Blair said, not only to her, but to any future students who try to report sexual misconduct at school. She said she felt “no relief.”
Peyton Reich/For the Sun-Times
Background and Context
At the time of the reported rape, Homewood-Flossmoor had already been dealing with a reckoning regarding student sexual assault, some taking place on campus. In March of 2022, months before Blair’s reported rape, students staged a walkout to protest how reports of sexual harassment and assault were handled at the school. At least six students identified themselves as victims of sexual misconduct, but student organizer Titilayo Anoma said students knew of more than that. “There were students that went to teachers or administrators and they were waved off or given some sort of runaround,” Anoma said.
Conclusion
No amount of money could take away Blair’s pain, she said. The dollar amount doesn’t compare to the time and innocence lost in a place she was supposed to feel safe, she said. “It wasn’t about any money,” Blair said. "[We were] thinking that they realized how they handled it was wrong, or they felt some type of remorse or anything. For them to release that saying no wrongdoings or anything of that nature just shows that it’s still nothing to them.”
FAQs
- Q: What was the amount of the settlement reached between Amayah Blair and the Homewood-Flossmoor school district?
A: The settlement amount was $3.5 million. - Q: What were the circumstances of the reported
