A federal judge today approved a settlement by a gay teenager who claims he was relentlessly bullied by classmates.  The teenager has settled a lawsuit against an upstate New York school district.

The student doesn’t want his full name revealed and is only identified by  Jacob. Jacob sued the Mohawk Central School District in federal court over the summer with help from the New York Civil Liberties Union.  He says that school officials did nothing to stop bullies who picked on him because he acted differently than other boys.  The school district denied the allegations in the complaint.

Under the settlement, the district is to pay $50,000 to Jacob’s family and to implement changes to protect all students from harassment.  Jacob has agreed to dismiss the lawsuit against the school district and its employees, and the Justice Department agreed to withdraw its motion to intervene.