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Archived entries for suicide

Ohio federal court dismisses peer bullying/harassment suit against district in student suicide case

An Ohio federal district court has granted a school district’s motion for summary judgment in a suit brought by the parents of a high school student who committed suicide, claiming that the student was repeatedly subjected to peer bullying and harassment in violation of her Fourteenth Amendment substantive and procedural due process rights, Fourteenth Amendment equal protection rights, Title VI and Title IX rights, and under Section 1983 related to a municipal liability claim based on the failure to train.

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Parents of student who committed suicide sue Utah district for deliberate indifference to bullying

Bradd and Edna Hancock have filed suit in federal court against the North Sanpete School District and School Board, the Sanpete County Sheriff, and school administrators, reports Courthouse News Service, alleging that throughout middle school and high school the district was indifferent to the continued bullying of J.H. by a group of students, and was inept in handling the incidents, ultimately leading to J.H.’s suicide.

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California school district enters into resolution agreement after months-long ED/DOJ investigation of bullying and harassment of gay student; mother files law suit

According to the Bakersfield Californian, a seven month long  joint investigation by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has concluded that Tehachapi Unified School District (TUSD) failed to “adequately investigate or respond appropriately” to the bullying of a gay, 13-year-old middle school student, Seth Walsh, who committed suicide in September 2010. [...]

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Federal district court in Ohio dismisses claims of estate and parents regarding bullying-related suicide

A federal district court in Ohio has granted a school district’s motion to dismiss a suit brought by the estate and parents of a student who committed suicide after being bullied by classmates. It concluded that the estate’s claims were time-barred because a personal representative of the estate was not appointed until the statute of limitations on the claims had run. The court also concluded that the parents had failed to state a valid substantive due process claim based on the allegation that the school failed to end the bullying or prevent the student’s suicide. It likewise found no valid claim of failure to train because there was no violation of a constitutional right identified. The court also dismissed the Title IX claim, noting the parents had conceded that they could not bring a claim.

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Five of six students facing criminal charges in Massachusetts bullying case accept plea agreement

Five of the six defendants charged in connection with the 2010 bullying that allegedly led to the suicide of Phoebe Prince, have agreed to admit to a misdemeanor; in exchange, prosecutors will drop more serious charges against them, says the Boston Globe. The students will probably receive probation, subject to the approval of a judge.

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Bullying suit claims Texas school district ignored bullying, destroyed evidence

Courthouse News Service reports that the parent of a middle school student who committed suicide has filed suit against the president and vice-president of the Cy-Fair Independent School District and Hamilton Middle School’s principal and vice-principal. Amy Brown Truong, who brought the suit on behalf of her son Asher Brown’s estate, alleges that her son committed suicide after a bully kicked him down two flights of stairs at school. Her suit charges that school officials developed a “custom of looking the other way,” and that after her son’s suicide the district destroyed video of the boy being bullied in school and on the bus.

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In wake of suspended Virginia student’s suicide, Maryland State Bd. of Ed. asks local school districts to review disciplinary policies

After a high school student in Fairfax County, Virginia, committed suicide after being suspended and then transferred to another school for violating a school district policy banning a legal synthetic compound with marijuana-like effects, the Maryland Board of Education (MBE) has asked school districts in the state to review their policies, the Washington Post reports. The MBE expressed concern about any existing “zero tolerance” practices and a need for support services for suspended students.

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Ohio Supreme Court considering whether estate of bullied student who committed suicide may proceed with suit in federal court

The Ohio Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in the case of a teen who killed himself after alleged repeated bullying at Mentor High School, says the News Herald. Justices must now decide whether certain claims made by the estate of Eric Mohat can proceed in federal court. U.S. District Judge Donald C. Nugent previously asked state justices to rule on whether a lawsuit filed by the teen’s parents against the school is void because Eric’s estate was not established until after the lawsuit filing deadline had passed.

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Parents’ suit says school district’s failure to address bullying led to student’s suicide

The parents of a student who committed suicide by hanging in a bathroom at his elementary school have filed suit in a Texas federal district court against Lewisville Independent School District (LISD), says Courthouse News Service. The suit charges that LISD failed to keep the student safe from harm, and was deliberately indifferent to complaints that he was being bullied. The student’s mother says that shortly before her son killed himself she sent a letter to the principal, “complaining about the fact [that her son] had been, and continued to be, a victim of incessant bullying by other children,” and also complained of it to the school board.

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After gay student’s suicide, ACLU offers to conduct sensitivity training in lieu of filing suit against school district

In the aftermath of a gay student’ suicide, the Tehachapi News reports that the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California (ACLU-SoCal) has sent a letter to Tehachapi Unified School District (TUSD) offering to provide sensitivity training to counteract the “anti-gay climate” in the district in lieu filing suit on behalf of the late student’s mother.

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