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

U.S. District Court Judge Donald C. Nugent has dismissed the law suit Eric Mohat’s family filed against Mentor Schools.

Eric was a a 17-year-old Mentor High School student who killed himself March 27, 2007. Eric’s parents, Janis and William Mohat, filed a lawsuit against Mentor Schools after his death, saying their son killed himself because he was bullied and the school did not do enough to stop it.

Nugent ruled to dismiss the suit June 1.

In the parents’ suit, they accused the school district of five specific counts of wrongdoing. They claimed that Mentor Schools:

• violated Eric’s constitutional right “to due process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment.”
• failed “to properly train its officials and teachers in proper methods of recognizing, responding to and preventing bullying and harassment.”
• violated Eric’s right to not be discriminated against by “allowing the plaintiffs’ minor son to be harassed by other students.”
• were negligent under state law.
• and acted with “malicious purpose, bad faith and wanton and reckless conduct.”

In the suit, the Mohats asked the judge to grant them “compensatory damages, and against the individual defendants an appropriate amount of punitive damages.”

Nugent addressed each count separately in his dismissal.

Pertaining to the first count, he said, “Although parents should be able to expect that their children will be kept reasonably safe when under the school’s supervision, the school had no constitutional duty to take affirmative action to protect Eric from harm imposed by other students through bullying and emotional and physical harassment, nor did it have a constitutional duty to take affirmative action to prevent the ultimate harm he imposed upon himself through his suicide.”

As per the second count, Nugent wrote, “The plaintiffs do not identify any constitutional right that the (Mentor School) Board’s alleged actions violated. The complaint asserts that the board failed to train its employees on the proper procedures to handle bullying, but as set forth above, the school’s failure to stop third parties from harming Eric — in this case the bullies, and/or Eric, himself –although tragic and possibly preventable, does not rise to the level of a constitutional violation.”

Nugent also said in his decision that the Mohats did not provide any evidence that indicated the board knew their son was being bullied.

The judge dismissed the third count, saying Eric’s parents could not bring a complaint under Title IX of federal law.

Finally, counts four or five were dismissed because they are complaints under state law. Nugent said they may, “if appropriate,” be refiled at the state level.

“For all of the reasons set forth above, all claims brought on behalf of Eric Mohat’s estate are dismissed as untimely under the appropriate statute of limitations,” Nugent wrote in his motion to dismiss.

When contacted for comment, Mentor Schools released a statement that read, “Mentor Public Schools learned (June 1) U.S. District Court Judge Donald C. Nugent granted a motion to dismiss the federal lawsuit filed by the Mohat family against the district and some of its employees. 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.”

Kenneth Myers, the Mohats’ attorney, did not immediately return a message left at his office Tuesday afternoon.

Mentor Schools still faces a second, similar lawsuit in federal court.

Dragan and Celija Vidovic sued Mentor Schools after their 16-year-old daughter, Sladjana, killed herself in 2008. The Vidovics said the school did not do enough to recognize or stop the bullying that caused Sladjana to kill herself.

http://mentor.patch.com/articles/federal-judge-dismisses-mohats-law-suit-against-mentor-schools