A Florida teen may have just cost her dad a major cash flow opportunity after breaching a legal confidentiality agreement.
According to the Miami Herald, Patrick Snay, 69, was the headmaster at Gulliver Preparatory School in Miami, Fla., for a number of years.
In 2010, Gulliver did not renew his employment contract. Therefore, Patrick decided to sue the school for age discrimination and won an $80,000 settlement in 2011.
Unfortunately, a Facebook post by his teenage daughter, Dana Snay, may have jeopardized those future funds.
The Gulliver graduate turned to social media in February to boast about her father’s win.
Dana’s post read:
“Mama and Papa Snay won the case against Gulliver. Gulliver is now officially paying for my vacation to Europe this summer. SUCK IT.”
Dana’s page, which has over 1,000 Facebook friends, is followed by a number of students and alumni from the school.(image)
Only four days after confirming the payout, the status update eventually got back to the school’s lawyer. He then took necessary action to appeal the verdict.
Clearly the issue at hand is not solely Dana’s fault, since her father is the one who actually violated the settlement’s standard confidential clause.
He argues that he decided to tell Dana about it because she was already aware of the lawsuit and suffers from “psychological scars” caused by the school.
“We knew what the restrictions were, yet we needed to tell her something,” he told the Miami Herald.
Third District Court Judge Linda Ann Wells explained to the newspaper why the case was thrown out.
“Snay violated the agreement by doing exactly what he had promised not to do,” she said. “His daughter then did precisely what the confidentiality agreement was designed to prevent.”
Patrick currently is headmaster at Riviera Preparatory Academy in Coral Gables. His attempt at saving his money includes presenting the current ruling to the Florida Supreme Court. He plans to either appeal the ruling or request a rehearing.
Depending on the details of the contract, it’s more than likely that Patrick will never reap the benefits of the 2011 settlement.
Image via Youtube