School Bullying Council

Eric Mohat

CLEVELAND, Ohio — A federal judge has thrown out one of two bullying lawsuits involving student suicides at Mentor High School.

U.S. District Judge Donald Nugent dismissed a lawsuit brought against school officials by the parents of Eric Mohat, 17, who shot himself in 2007 after enduring what his parents described as months of harassment by classmates.

But Nugent continues to preside over a second case filed last year by the parents of Sladjana Vidovic, 16, a Mentor High student who hung herself in 2008. Sladjana’s parents contend their daughter was persistently tormented by classmates.

Attorney Kenneth Myers filed both cases in federal court, asserting violations of the parents’ 14th Amendment right to “the companionship, care, custody and management of their child, including the right to control his education.”

But Myers said the cases involve different legal issues and Nugent’s decision to dismiss the Mohat case shouldn’t have an impact on the Vidovic case.

In the Mohat case, Myers was unable to provide evidence that school officials had been made aware of the bullying that was going on, he said. But not so in the Vidovic

case.

“In the Vidovic case, we have a lot more evidence that the parents had repeatedly complained about the bullying to the school,” Myers said. “And the suicides occurred a year apart, so the school district was on notice as a result of Eric’s death.”

Myers said he plans to meet with Eric’s parents, Bill and Janis, to discuss whether they want to refile the case in Lake County Common Pleas Court, or to appeal Nugent’s ruling.

In a prepared statement, the school district said: “This decision will not end our ongoing commitment to train our staff and students with anti-bullying and mental health education initiatives. Our deepest sympathy remains with the Mohat family grieving the loss of their son.”

The Mohats’ lawsuit accused the Mentor School District and school officials of failing to intercede on behalf of Eric against the bullies, and that this failure contributed to his decision to commit suicide.

But Nugent wrote in his order that the school had no constitutional duty to protect Eric from harm, nor could it have prevented his suicide.

“Consequently, however tragic and unfair this may seem,” Nugent wrote, the Mohats “have not established that the school’s failure to stop the bullying Eric suffered, or its failure to prevent his ultimate suicide,” was a constitutional violation.

Although the Mohats lost their lawsuit, they succeeded in making school officials aware of bullying problems at the high school, Myers said.

“One of their main goals was to bring this to people’s attention, and they certainly did that,” Myers said. “Their other goal was to hold people accountable for their failure to act. That, to some extent, is being done through the Vidovic case.”

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: jmccarty@plaind.com, 216-999-4153

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2011/06/federal_judge_throws_out_one_m.html

A school in western Sweden has been sued for almost a million kronor ($160,000) by four families who claim that not enough has been done to help bullied children.

• Many bullied students go without compensation (22 Apr 11)
• Schools board slams anti-bullying plans (28 Jan 11)
• Schoolboy compensated for racial bullying (18 Nov 10)

I have never before seen a school so unwilling to help when a child feels vulnerable, one of the parents Peter Axelsson told Sveriges Radio (SR).

The Casa dei Bambini Monterssori school, which is independently run by a board of trustees, has been accused of both ignoring the indications that bullying was taking place, but also to have actively worked against parents and students trying to resolve the situation.

Usually bullying cases are handled between the Child-and-Student Ombudsman (Barn- och elevombudet-BEO) and the management of the school, in this case the trustees.

The BEO has investigated the cases at the school and has directed criticism in one of them, but dismissed the others as they occurred too long ago. The parents thus decided to act to file a private lawsuit against the school.

According to the parents lawyer the case is extraordinary as it involves a school, which should be concerned with its reputation and four students who feel they have been treated appallingly for a long period of time, alleging that they received no help at all from the school.

If you look at the lawsuit you see that the children have been subjected to grave violations over a long period of time. It would be reasonable to expect the school to have acted upon it. But they did nothing, lawyer Jrgen Frisk told SR.

Peter Axelssons daughter attended the school in 2006.

The more we demanded that they do something about it, the more they pushed the blame over to her. She felt terrible, lost weight, couldnt sleep and had constant headaches, he told SR.

At the school they dont agree that they fail to act on bullying.

Generally, I think that we work very much with these issues at the school. We think that it is vital and we welcome the examination of these cases, said the principal Marie Rydberg to SR.

http://www.thelocal.se/34114/20110601/

A former student has sued the Black Horse Pike Regional School District, saying other students bullied and sexually abused her for years and the administration did nothing to stop it.

The suit, filed Friday in New Jersey Superior Court in Camden, contends that school officials repeatedly ignored the student and her parents’ cries for help, culminating in a 2009 meeting in which a then-school official told the family, “It takes two to tango.”

Superintendent John Golden, who was named to the post earlier this year, declined to comment on the specifics of the suit. He referred questions to the district’s attorney, who was unavailable for comment.

“We had expected this would eventually come forward,” Golden said.

The lawsuit describes abuses and taunts that the now 19-year-old student experienced with such regularity that she took to hiding out in the nurse’s office. The bullying extended over her entire four years at Timber Creek Regional High School, the lawsuit alleges, and ranged from other girls calling her a “slut” to a male student sitting next to her in class and sticking his hand down her pants.

The student, who is not named in the suit, is undergoing medical treatment to deal with the anxiety and battery of associated medical and psychological conditions that sprang up during the bullying, said her attorney, Jamie Epstein.

“It’s up to the school to protect students from being bullied, intimidated, and harassed,” he said.

The suit also alleges that the district removed the girl from school for an extended period after the parents of one of her alleged tormentors pressed charges against her, claiming she had threatened her daughter.

Bullying has become a national issue in recent years after a series of high-profile incidents, including one in South Hadley, Mass., in which a student committed suicide after repeated harassment by her classmates at school and online.

Lawsuits by bullied students have been filed against school districts across the country. And many states, including New Jersey, have passed laws requiring school districts to maintain anti-bullying programs.

But Epstein, who is representing another student in a bullying lawsuit against Berlin Township schools, said that avenues for legal recourse remained limited for many students.

He sued under antidiscrimination laws, contending that the school had allowed a “hostile environment” to develop where by virtue of her gender and disabilities – which include a host of psychological conditions that developed as she was bullied – she was deprived access to an education.

“There’s very little option for victims of generic bullying,” he said.

Contact staff writer James Osborne at 856-779-3876 or jaosborne@phillynews.com.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/new_jersey/117567673.html

Michelle Macleod, left, argues her son Dillon, 14, has been repeatedly bullied since September and his high school has not done enough to stop it. She is now suing the school board and looking to charge Dillon’s bully. (JAMIE LONG/QMI Agency)

OTTAWA – A south-Ottawa mother is planning to sue Ottawas largest school board and have charges brought against her sons alleged bully after a series of incidents since September.

Michelle Macleod says her son Dillon, 14, has been repeatedly targeted by another teenage boy at Longfields-Davidson Heights Secondary School in Barrhaven, and the school has not done enough.

The Grade 8 student told QMI Agency his locker was smashed an event captured on video and the other student spread rumours that Dillon was gay.

It started with pushing and shoving, then ripping my hood off, throwing my hat in the water, but then it escalated, said Dillon, who was afraid to tell his mom about the incidents.

The feud then boiled over Jan. 27 when the alleged bully asked Dillon to fight during the lunch break. He obliged and now has a laundry list of injuries, including a broken right hand.

Macleod didnt know about the fight until Monday four days later when the school contacted her about suspending Dillon for the school week.

They took absolutely no blame for their actions at all, Macleod said after meeting with the schools principal, vice-principal and school resource officer.

The officer even said bullying is not against the law and they said no bullying has been done regarding Dillon whatsoever.

The other student was suspended for an unknown length of time, but Macleod said he hadnt been suspended for any of his earlier actions.

I had previous conversations with the vice-principal regarding him being bullied, but in the meeting … they wouldnt admit to it.

The schools resource officer did not return phone calls over the past few days.

The board did say: There are two sides to every story, but wouldnt elaborate because the case involved an individual student.

All Ontario schools have an anti-bullying policy, which is legally required under the provinces Safe Schools Act.

The board told QMI Agency there is a progressive discipline approach, but Macleod argued it wasnt followed in this case.

Macleod said she went into the meeting looking for an apology and possibly some changes to the schools bullying policy. But the lack of remorse or receptiveness left her upset, she said, which led her to family lawyer Paul Jakubiak.

Jakubiak represented Kanata mother Krisha Stanton, who sued Ottawas Catholic School Board for $325,000 after her daughter was bullied in 2007. The case was settled out of court in November.

Jakubiak confirmed he is representing Macleod, but wouldnt comment any further.

They are meeting Friday to file the lawsuit.

jamie.long@sunmedia.ca

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Crime/2011/02/03/17144886.html