Another 'Spycam' Lawsuit Settled, But For How Much?

The Lower Merion School District has agreed to settle out of court former student Joshua Levin's about being photographed by his school-issued laptop's camera without his knowledge.

U.S. District Court Judge Jan E. Dubois in Philadelphia announced in a court filing Dec. 22 that the parties had settled and that the case was "dismissed with prejudice, by agreement of counsel, without costs". The full document is attached to this article.

District spokesman Doug Young told Patch the district has agreed to pay Levin $10,000, pending the approval of the Board of School Directors.

"From the beginning, this complaint was driven purely by monetary interests," Young said in an emailed statement. "The plaintiff’s computer was one of five stolen from school property and recovered by the Lower Merion police. No LMSD employee ever viewed any images recorded on his laptop. Unfortunately, the plaintiff and his lawyer decided to use litigation as a wedge and a threat in their attempted pillaging of Lower Merion taxpayers for hundreds of thousands of dollars. That process wasted more than six months of time, energy and resources – absolutely nothing changed from our initial position."

Norman Perlberger, Levin's attorney, told Patch his client agreed to settle for more than $10,000, though he would not specify an amount. Perlberger would not comment further on the matter, citing a confidentiality agreement included in the settlement.

Young told Patch the district's insurer would contribute an amount less than $10,000, in addition to the $10,000 from the district itself.