GOSHEN – It could take several months before a judge decides how much the insurance company for the Pine Bush Central School District must pay a group of students who were the subjects of repeated anti-Semitic bullying in the past.
A federal court recently ruled the Utica National Insurance Group must pay $4.48 million, but the company refused to so the district took the issue to State Supreme Court.
Justice Elaine Slobod ruled on Monday the company must pay and on Tuesday, said the insurance company’s three-year delay in notifying the district of its refusal of coverage was “unreasonable and therefore, ineffective” and ordered the settlement and legal fees be paid.
The judge authorized a “period of discovery” to determine the amount of coverage Utica National is required to provide the district.
Recently there was another act of hate when a male student painted a swastika on an outside wall at the high school.
Superintendent Joan Carbone said the district has a number of programs in place to do away with such behavior in the future.
“We are continuing to do our educational programs; we always place promoting tolerance in all of our school buildings as one of our highest priorities,” Carbone said. “We have an active committee, a no place for hate committee, in the district and in all of the buildings and we are doing diversity training and educational programs for all of our students and we are vigilant about monitoring behaviors and making sure we respond to them appropriately.”
In the insurance company case, once discovery has been completed, Judge Slobod will determine the amount of payment.
