Liam Murphy
Liam Murphy, the redhead teenage boy launched a controversial
lawsuit against his parents, for not preventing his birth, even if they
were aware the high probability of his hair being red.
The 13-year old boy filed a “Wrongful Life” lawsuit against his red
haired parents, alleging that they knew their children would very
likely inherit this undesirable trait. He claims that they caused him a
“voluntary prejudice” by giving life to him, knowning that he would be
born into a life of pain and suffering.
He is demanding the incredible amount of $1.35 million in “pain and
suffering”, that is, monetary compensation for the entire experience of
having a disabled life versus having a healthy mind and body, as well
as $800 000 in “loss of enjoyment of life”.
“My life is a torture!” the young boy told the press outside the courthouse.
“I keep being told that I have no soul or that I am from an endangered
species. People keep calling me Carrottop, Strawberry Shortcake or
Ginger Freak, and all of that is my parents’ fault! They knew they were
offering me a life of misery, and they selfishly decided to have
children anyways.”
Liam Murphy’s lawyer, James Franklin O’connor, told reporters that
his client’s claim is “incredibly conservative considering the
situation”, and says he is confident about the upcoming trial.
“My client was intentionally exposed to a life of rejection and bullying by his parents,” said Mr O’Connor.
“Many scientific studies have proven the social difficulties suffered
by people with red hair, but this couple who had suffered from it
themselves, consciously decided to expose their children to the same
thing.”
Liam’ parents, Larry and Theresa Murphy, say they don’t understand why the oldest of their three children is suing them.
Liam’s parents, however, have a very different perspective on the
question, saying that “God gave him red hair”, not them, and that he
should “be happy to be alive”.
“Both my wife and I have red hair, and it never stopped us from being happy,” the boy’s father told reporters. “God has created me the way I am, and I not ashamed of his creation.
"Some mean kids at school have started bullying Liam over the
last few years, and we tried to help him solve the problem. But now,
some lawyer has convinced my son that it was actually our fault if
others were picking on him, and he’s suing us for millions. It’s
completely ridiculous! We’ve done nothing wrong.
"And seriously, I’m an electrician and my wife is a hairdresser…where does he expect us to find two million dollars?”
In recent years, a few “Wrongful Life” lawsuits have generated
financial compensations of up to $20 millions for some children, but
these were for plaintiffs born with heavy disabilities or debilitating
diseases.
This is the first time that such a claim is filed concerning a
physical trait, and could therefore become a legal precedent for future
cases.
Both parties will return to court on April 12 for the beginning of
the trial, which is expected to attract a lot of attention from the
media.
A 2014 study from the University College Cork did showed that
redheads are “more likely to be bullied” than others and concluded that
“bullying of gingers” is “one of the last socially accepted forms of
prejudice against people for a trait they were born with”.
The results showed 60.6% of males and 47.3% of females with red
hair said that they had suffered “some kind of discrimination in the
past due to their hair colour”.
Even the British royal Prince Harry admitted to CBS in 2014, that
he has been regularly bullied over his ginger locks in the past, and has
sought counselling about it.
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