After family sued for $1, boy with Down syndrome on track to becoming an Eagle Scout

DENVER -- A teenager in Utah and his parents believe the Boy Scouts treated him unfairly when it came to awarding him Eagle Scout status. But now, Logan Blythe of Utah is once again on the path to becoming an Eagle Scout, should he so choose.

"They're doing well. It's a little bittersweet because Logan was quite disappointed when this happened to him back in November," said Ted McBride, attorney for the family.

Logan Blythe, 15, who has Down syndrome, earned 22 merit badges when the Boy Scouts Council told him that was enough to achieve Eagle Scout status, but the National Advancement Committee emailed his father otherwise, saying "the young man must do the requirements as written, including leadership responsibilities."

"He's stopped going to meetings. He's no longer willing to put on the uniform," said Chad Blythe, Logan's father.

Logan's family sued for $1 -- saying accommodations should be made. In March, the national commissioner for the Boy Scouts of America sat down with Blythe's father and his attorneys to assure them the teen never really lost any merit badges.

"And that the next step would be to evaluate what he'd done and what he still needed to do to get Eagle," Charles Dahlquist, national commissioner for Boy Scouts of America.

In a statement, the organization said: "We are inspired by Logan and his family's commitment to scouting, and we are so glad he will remain a part of our scouting community."

As it turned out, there is more paperwork needed to complete the Eagle Scout process -- something the family attorney says will help others with disabilities in the future.

"We know that they're working to improve those policies and procedures and I have nothing but positive things to say about them," said McBride.

The BSA commissioner said this, like so many things in life, came down to a misunderstanding about communication, and added they're working to fix whatever prompted this misunderstanding.