Cheerleader Sues Parents for Refusing to Pay College Tuition
An 18-year-old high school cheerleader is suing her parents for kicking her out of the house and refusing to pay her college tuition.
Rachel Canning, an honor student at Morris Catholic High School in Denville, New Jersey, claims in her lawsuit that her parents abandoned her when she turned 18, giving her an ultimatum to dump her boyfriend or get out.
She moved in with her best friend, the daughter of attorney John Inglesino, the man who encouraged Rachel to sue her parents and spent more than $12,000 to fund the court battle.
Rachel's father, Sean, says Inglesino is getting involved where he shouldn't, and giving Rachel bad information. Canning claims he never kicked his daughter out—she ran away in November after refusing to follow house rules.
"Living in our house, there's very few rules," he told New York's CBS 2. "There's minor chores. There's curfews – when I say curfew, it's usually after 11 o'clock at night."
Rachel has been accepted to several schools, and her top choice is the University of Vermont, where she has a $20,000 scholarship.
"I reject the whole question on that — the whole premise," her father said. "We have a college fund that's available to her – there's no doubt about that. But it's the equivalent … of going shopping at a high-end store and sending somebody the bill."
The two sides are due in court today, where Rachel will ask a judge not to emancipate her, because doing so would release her parents from their obligation to support her financially.
