High School Volleyballer Suspended For Being Designated Driver

A Massachusetts high school senior has been suspended for five matches and stripped of her volleyball captaincy thanks to the school's no-tolerance policy toward alcohol. Except she wasn't drinking, and had only shown up at the house party to drive an intoxicated friend home.

Earlier this month, Erin Cox of North Andover HS got a text from a friend who said she was drunk and asked Cox to come get her. Cox drove to the party, and just as she found the friend, police stormed the place. They arrested a dozen people for underage drinking, and issued court summonses to 15 more, including Cox. Though Cox wasn't punished thanks to to a written statement from an officer vouching for her sobriety, the school still hit her with the standard punishment for drinking.

"I felt like going to get her was the right thing to do. Saving her from getting in the car when she was intoxicated and hurt herself or getting in the car with someone else who was drinking. I’d give her a ride home."

Cox's family filed a lawsuit against the school to have her volleyball suspension lifted, but a judge ruled the court did not have jurisdiction. Cox's attorney told CBS Boston:

"If a kid asks for help from a friend, you don’t want that kid to say 'I'm sorry I can’t help you. I might end up in trouble at school.'"

[ Boston Herald]