Lawsuit Alleges Fifth Grader Died By Suicide After Being Bullied By Teacher
The parents of an Ocala fifth grader have filed a lawsuit against a teacher and the school district after their son died by suicide. According to the parents, the boy was allegedly bullied by his teacher, which prompted the successful suicide attempt. The lawsuit comes nearly two years after the boy’s death. According to the wrongful death lawsuit, the boy’s fifth-grade teacher bullied him and recruited other students to bully him.
According to the lawsuit, the teacher called the decedent “stupid” and said that he “didn’t know anything.”
The teacher is alleged to have said things like: “I don’t know why you’re talking because you don’t even know anything. You don’t know nothing in this class. Isn’t that right kids?” According to a report, the teacher chronically inflicted psychological distress on several of her students by “verbally insulting, humiliating, and embarrassing students.”
The decedent’s parents say that they reported the teacher’s actions to the school board and the school itself, but neither entity intervened on the students’ behalf. The parents contend that, as a result of the school board’s negligence, the teacher caused the decedent to suffer depression and anxiety, which led to the 10-year-old boy’s death.
A short time after the decedent’s death, his parents went to the school and passed out “Suicide Prevention” flyers, which detail the allegations made against the teacher. An investigation launched against the teacher produced a report from 2023, which detailed statements made by more than two dozen student witnesses concerning the teacher’s behavior in class. Twelve of those students were in the classroom with the decedent.
According to the students, the teacher would get mad when a student got an answer wrong. They said the teacher was scary and would make students cry. They also said she would comment about students’ grades in the classroom.
The school board did not review the teacher’s contract following the investigation.
Can you file a lawsuit over bullying and suicide?
Such lawsuits alleging that another individual is responsible for the suicide of a plaintiff can be very difficult to win. Generally speaking, the law requires an individual to actually cause physical harm to the plaintiff to file a personal injury lawsuit against them. The question then becomes: Did the teacher owe the student a duty of care? If they did, does that duty of care and its breach directly result in the child’s suicide? If so, then the plaintiffs may have a cause of action against the teacher and the school board. The parents would have to contend that the teacher is partly responsible for the child’s suicide. In other words, they would have to say that the suicide was a direct result of the teacher’s conduct. This is no small task. It remains to be seen how this lawsuit plays out.
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Gillette Law represents the interests of those injured by the negligence of another party. Call our Jacksonville personal injury attorneys today to schedule an appointment, and we can begin discussing your next steps right away.
Source:
wwnytv.com/2025/04/27/5th-grader-dies-by-suicide-after-being-bullied-by-teacher-lawsuit-says/
