Lower Merion Must Pay $260K in Laptop Spying Case

A federal judge says the Lower Merion School District embroiled in a laptop spying scandal must pay a family's lawyer about $260,000.

The district was ordered Monday to pay attorney Mark Haltzman for work done in a civil case involving allegations school officials improperly used webcam-enabled laptops to spy on students.

Senior U.S. District Judge Jan DuBois says Haltzman deserves to be paid for work he did that led to an injunction barring the district from secretly monitoring activity on school-provided laptops.

Haltzman represents Blake Robbins, who claims the district photographed him 400 times in a 15-day period last fall, sometimes as he slept or was half-dressed. Haltzman asked to be paid more than $435,000, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.

District officials say they are "deeply disappointed" in the judge's decision.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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