School has to pay indemnity because of refused admission of lesbian parents’ child

As Index reports, according to a final decision made by Budapest-Capital Regional Court,  KisPest Waldorf school has to pay 350,000 HUF non-material compensation and interest, because they refused the admission of a child in 2013 after the parents said: the child is being raised by two mothers – writes the Society named Háttér, the legal representative of the plaintiff.

As Index has reported earlier, the mother, living in a lesbian domestic partnership, wanted her son to go to the seventh grade of the school in Kispest, but they got refused in the last moment before the beginning of the school year. The school said that it was for the good of the child, because they would not have been able to protect him from the teasing of his classmates. The case headed to the Equal Treatment Authority (EBH) and the school got condemned.  It was the child’s first meeting with discrimination. According to the school, nothing similar has happened in the institution before; they tried to avoid any form of bias.

EBH made a decision important for the same-sex couples raising a child in another case, when they stated that it is not allowed to refuse the admission of a child only because he or she is living in a family different from what is conventional in the majority society. The mother felt that the penalty of 50,000 HUF determined by EBH humiliating and very low, so she prosecuted for compensation.

Budapest-Capital Regional Court shared the evaluation of the situation made by EBH and determined that the admission of the child failed because of the mother’s sexual orientation. The court reacted to the argument which stated that it was for the child’s good by saying:

“it can be required from the all-time educational institutions and their educators to prevent the insult of those pupils who differ from their classmates by using the appropriate pedagogic tools. The pupils with different features could not suffer any disadvantage because of the fact that the institution, or its educator, is not able, or does not want to pay attention to their personal needs, and help their integration to the class.”

The court formed a judgement of 350,000 HUF of compensation towards the mother and obligated the school to pay all the interests and legal costs.

Photo: MTI

Copy editor: bm

Source: Index