Rachel Canning Archives

New Jersey Teen Moves back Home – Lawsuit Against Her Parents Still On

The New Jersey teenager who sued her parents for not paying her college tuition moved back into their home – but still hasn’t dropped the lawsuit, a lawyer for her parents said on Wednesday.

Rachel Canning, 18, returned to her parents’ house in Lincoln Park on Tuesday night, said attorney Angelo Sarno, who represents Sean and Elizabeth Canning.

“I’m not here to comment on what the motivation is for this event. She’s just a kid and she’s home,” Sarno said at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.

But while the family may have hashed-out some of its emotional problems — which blew up after the teen voluntarily moved out last fall — the legal conflict is still “pending,” Sarno said.

The deal is that the lawsuit is still pending…There has never been a settlement,” Sarno added.

Elizabeth and Sean Canning cry during the hearing.Photo: AP/Pool

Rachel had been living with a powerful attorney, John Inglesino, a father of one of her friends, since October.

She moved out of her parents’ home because she didn’t want to abide by a curfew or stop hanging out with a bad-influence boyfriend , her parents have claimed.

New Jersey Daughter Sues Parents for Tuition and Financial Support

(CNN) – A high school senior’s lawsuit against her mother and father for financial support and college tuition hit a hurdle Tuesday when a New Jersey judge denied the teenager’s request for immediate financial assistance from the parents.

Rachel Canning, 18, alleges in her lawsuit that her parents forced her out of their Lincoln Park, New Jersey home, and that she is unable to support herself financially. The lawsuit asks that her parents pay the remaining tuition for her last semester at her private high school, pay her current living and transportation expenses, commit to paying her college tuition and pay her legal fees for the suit she filed against her parents.

Her parents say she left home because she didn’t want to obey their rules.

Judge Peter Bogaard denied the request for high school tuition and current living expenses at a hearing Tuesday in New Jersey State Superior Court. Another hearing will be held in April on other issues in the suit, including whether Canning left home of her own accord, the judge said.

Canning, an honor student and cheerleader at Morris Catholic High School in Denville, says in court documents she had to leave her parents’ home because of emotional and psychological mistreatment, alleging, among other things, that her mother called her “fat” and “porky” and that her father threatened to beat her.

“I have been subjected to severe verbal and physical abuse by my mother and father,” Canning wrote in a court certification. “I am not willingly and voluntarily leaving a reasonable situation at home to make my own decisions. I had to leave to end the abuse.”

Canning left her parents’ home at the end of last October. After spending two nights at her boyfriend’s home, she moved into the home of her friend in a nearby town, where she has been staying ever since, according to court documents.