Embattled Student Files 2nd Suit Against School District

A 17-year-old former student at Los Alamitos High School who sued his school district last year for blocking his ascension to student body president because of his grades has filed another lawsuit against the district for revealing his grade point average.

The lawsuit filed Wednesday in Orange County Superior Court by 17-year-old Albert Nguyen and his father accuses the Los Alamitos Unified School District, the school and activities director Jerry Halpin of invading Nguyen’s privacy by revealing the teen’s grade point average to a Seal Beach reporter.

Nguyen’s grades were the central issue in the school’s decision to block him from assuming his elected seat as student body president. According to the school, a student must maintain a 3.0 grade point average each semester to be eligible to hold that office. But Nguyen’s former attorney argued in a lawsuit filed last year that the student only needed to maintain an overall 3.0 grade point average.

Nguyen’s overall average was “in excess” of 3.0, but his semester average was 2.33, according to both lawsuits.

The most recent lawsuit reiterates the allegations of the first lawsuit, which is set for a hearing Feb. 28, said Nguyen’s attorney, Van Thai Tran. But the second suit alleges that Halpin disclosed Nguyen’s grade point average to a reporter with the Rossmoor/Seal Beach Sun and caused the 17-year-old emotional distress.

Nguyen claims he had to leave the high school “to avoid having to discuss the matter with other students. . . . “

Tran said he hoped the two actions would be consolidated.

“The school district has been quite intransigent in their position, so what we did was file a lawsuit for the invasion of privacy,” he said. “We felt it was more appropriate.”

According to Tran, the California Education Code restricts school districts from disclosing student grades without parental consent or a court order.

Even if it was Nguyen who made an issue of his grades by challenging the school position on his presidency, “it does not give the school administration the right to violate the law,” Tran said.

Halpin could not be reached for comment and Los Alamitos High School Principal Carol Hart said school officials are “not allowed to comment” on pending litigation.