Family sues Christian school for expulsion of daughter after LGBT-themed cake at birthday party

A private Christian school is being sued by the family of a teen expelled after she posted photos to social media that were contrary to the values of the school.

The story made national headlines because the photos involved a rainbow-themed birthday cake at a private birthday party away from the school.

Whitefield Academy previously objected to how many national outlets were framing the story, and said that Kayla Kenney had been involved in several behavioral issues prior to the birthday party.

"Inaccurate media reports are circling stating that the student in question was expelled from our school solely for a social media post," the school said in a statement.

"In the fall, we met with the student to give her a final chance to begin to adhere to our code of conduct. Unfortunately, she did not live up to the agreement, and therefore, has been expelled," they added.

Kenney's parents claimed in the lawsuit that Kenney suffered "serious emotional distress" as a result of the actions of the school.

"In [expelling the student], Whitefield invaded K.K.'s privacy, defamed K.K., breached its contract with K.K.'s parents Kimberly Alford and Mike Kenney, and inflicted serious emotional distress on K.K. Certainly, in 2020 it is unbelievable that conversations like this one are still occurring — and that lawsuits like this one are still necessary," the family claimed.

Whitefield Academy declined to respond to requests from NBC to comment on the lawsuit.

Here's a local news report about the lawsuit:

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