Drunk Driving
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Erin Cox probably never imagined she would be punished for giving a drunk friend a ride home, but that’s exactly what happened to the Massachusetts teen. Her mother, Eleanor, told CBS her daughter is heartbroken for the price she’s paid for apparently doing a good deed for a friend in need.

The senior at North Andover High School received a call from a friend who was too intoxicated to drive home two weeks ago. Erin drove to Boxford to get her friend after work, but moments after she arrived, police also showed up and busted several kids for underage possession of alcohol, the site said.

Police cleared the honor student after they said she had not drunk and was not in possession of alcohol, but that wasn’t good enough for her school. North Andover High determined she was in violation of the district’s zero tolerance policy against drug and alcohol use. As a result, Erin was demoted as captain of the volleyball team and suspended from playing five games.

“She’s very fragile and I’m worried about her. Very worried about her. She didn’t do anything wrong,” Eleanor Cox told WBZ-TV in Boston Sunday.

The Cox family filed a lawsuit on Friday in District Court. A lawyer for the school district argued against any injunction and the judge said the court did not have any jurisdiction.

Wendy Murphy, the attorney who is trying to get the decision reversed for the Cox family said the school’s rule might force students not to help out others in the future out of fear of retribution. “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,’” she said.

Erin’s teammates have supported her by writing a petition, the news site said. “She didn’t do anything wrong. She did what she thought was right, and I’m very proud of her,” Erin’s mother said.