Ky. Law Firm Adds 2 School Districts to Growing Roster of Social Media Lawsuits

Attorney Ronald Johnson, of Hendy Johnson in Louisville, filed two more public nuisance lawsuits Wednesday on behalf of Kentucky school districts suing social media platforms for their alleged role in a growing mental health crisis among U.S. teens. Most of Hendy Johnson's 29 docketed cases have been combined in Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation in U.S. District Court for Northern California in Oakland under U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers. The latest Kentucky school districts to sue Facebook, Instagram, Snap, TikTok and YouTube are Johnson County (docket 7:23-cv-00036), based in Paintsville, with 3,300 students in 11 schools, filed in U.S. District Court for Eastern Kentucky in Pikesville, and Montgomery County (docket 5:23-cv-00124), based in Mount Sterling, with 4,300 students in eight schools. It filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for Eastern Kentucky in Lexington. The suits seek orders that defendants are jointly and severally liable and must end the described nuisance; equitable relief to fund prevention education and treatment for excessive and problematic use of social media; actual, compensatory and statutory damages; plus attorneys’ fees and legal costs.