Parents of a former Cheshire Academy student, who claim the private boarding school expelled their son over his conservative political views, engaged in hard-fought litigation before withdrawing their lawsuit against the school and two officials.

Theodore and Sonia Mancini filed a withdrawal in the case that had pitted their counsel against Carlton Fields, one of the largest firms in the country, according to ALM's Am Law 200 ranking. Their May 3 lawsuit had alleged Cheshire Academy was intolerant of their son's political viewpoints, and had expelled him as a result.

"The parties have resolved their differences," plaintiffs counsel Jamie Sullivan said Thursday without elaboration.

The suit made national news.

The three-count lawsuit alleged breach of contract, negligent misrepresentation and defamation against the academy. It also sought unspecified monetary damages. It alleged students criticized and verbally attacked plaintiffs' son, Michael Mancini, who the school had recruited to play football.

Attorneys from both sides declined to say whether the case settled.

But court records show Carlton Fields had filed a motion asking the court to sanction the parents. The firm asked the court to award attorney fees after the parents allegedly filed a meritless motion to reargue the court's order that had granted the school a protective order  preventing discovery while a special motion to dismiss was pending.

Cheshire Academy is about 225 years old. It charges about $62,000 annually for boarding and tuition, according to information on its website.

The school argued it was well within its rights to expel Michael Mancini, who is now a junior at Conard High School in West Hartford. Its lead counsel, Carlton Fields Hartford shareholder James Sconzo wrote in court pleadings that affidavits the academy submitted show Mancini engaged in a "string of inappropriate, disruptive and racist conduct."

Sconzo declined to comment on the case Thursday. And no one from the academy responded to a request for comment.

"The school's decisions had nothing to do with Michael supposedly espousing 'conservative' views," according to an Aug. 19 special motion to dismiss the Mancini lawsuit. "The family has not denied the numerous incidents attested to in Cheshire Academy's affidavits, including Michael slanting his eyes when an Asian student was speaking, his racial rant against the Middle East, his homophobic rhetoric, and his expressions about wanting to be violent."

But in objecting to the school's motion to dismiss, the parents' attorney, Jamie Sullivan of Howard, Kohn, Sprague & FitzGerald, argued otherwise.

"The plaintiff represents that he believes he can present, through affidavits, proof in support of his claims that he was discriminated against, punished and ultimately expelled for espousing conservative political views, not for legitimate violation of school policies as presented by the defendants," Sullivan argued for the plaintiff in an Aug. 23 pleading. "Such conduct by a commercial entity is not protected by a constitutional right of free association any more than an effort to discriminate against someone on the basis of other protected interests of a patron such as the plaintiff."

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