Mum sues school for discovery over lewd messages sent using daughter’s name

 She is seeking an order that the school disclose the details of the student responsible and those who made false reports against her daughter.

The mother of a 12-year old girl claims an international student hacked into the school’s Microsoft Teams platform and used her daughter’s name to send lewd messages and emails. (Rawpixel pic)

JOHOR BAHRU:

The mother of a 12‑year‑old student has filed a suit for pre‑action discovery against an international school here, seeking documents and information to pursue legal proceedings against an alleged hacker who used the school’s Microsoft Teams platform to circulate lewd messages using the girl’s name.

The school, however, says it is constrained by personal data laws from releasing the information, adding that it had acted responsibly in the matter by promptly investigating the incident, clearing the victim’s name and taking the appropriate reconciliation measures.

Plaintiff’s claim

In an originating summons filed on her daughter’s behalf, the mother has asked the court to compel the school to disclose details of the perpetrator and their parents.

She also wants the school to furnish the findings of its investigation and details of the action taken against the hacker and those who made false claims against her daughter.

“We want the school to disclose the full particulars of the student responsible, as well as those of his or her parents or guardians, so that they can be named as defendants in a lawsuit,” the mother said in an affidavit supporting the application.

She said all the documents sought were in the possession of the school and of critical importance.

The mother said she had, following the incident, sent a legal notice to the school last year requesting the details but the school refused to hand them over.

She claimed the student who hacked into the system had impersonated her daughter when sending out the materials, and that the culprit had also falsely accused her daughter of misusing the system.

“The situation became worse when WhatsApp messages and calls were made to my daughter claiming that the caller was the mother of the student whose account was hacked.

“The caller threatened my daughter and told her to admit that she was the one who hacked the system and sent the lewd materials,” she said.

She said that, as a result, her daughter was overcome with fear, had suffered serious emotional distress, and was faced with severe damage to her reputation, causing her to refuse to attend school. Her daughter was eventually forced to transfer to another school, the mother added.

School’s reply

In the school’s affidavit in reply, it said the incidents complained about were beyond its control, and that all necessary steps were taken to address the issues at the material time.

It said the school had duly investigated the matter and had fully and unequivocally cleared the victim’s name in March last year.

“Following a meeting between the (school’s) representatives, the (mother), her daughter and all other Year 6 students were informed that the victim was not involved in the matter.

“On or around June 12 last year, the school facilitated a reconciliation session involving all students connected to the matter, including the perpetrator and the victim,” its representative said, adding that the perpetrator had apologised to all involved.

The representative also insisted that the culprit’s identity was already known to the mother and daughter.

“The plaintiff (mother) is also not precluded from commencing legal proceedings against the perpetrator merely by the absence of further evidence at this stage,” she said.

The school also denied claims that the victim had suffered severe emotional distress, fear and reputational harm, pointing out that she had attended its graduation ceremony despite having left the institution.

“Her attendance at the ceremony is wholly inconsistent with the allegations now advanced against the (school). I verily believe that, during the ceremony, the student mingled and interacted with her friends,” the representative said.

The school reserved the right to produce photographic evidence showing her attendance at the event.

The mother is represented by the Law Chambers of Vinsa & Ian, while the school’s solicitors are GLT Law.

FMT has omitted the names of all parties concerned. -  FMT