A federal lawsuit was filed earlier this week by Marc Lansberry, the father of “Wyatt J. Lansberry, a 12-year-old seventh-grader, who took his own life on May 18 after experiencing a ‘particularly brutal day of bullying’ at the Altoona Area Junior High School.” The lawsuit itself was filed in Johnstown with the blessing of Wyatt’s mother, Terri Bradford, and “outlines in detail the psychological toll that persistent bullying took on the child.”
A federal lawsuit was filed earlier this week by Marc Lansberry, the father of “Wyatt J. Lansberry, a 12-year-old seventh-grader, who took his own life on May 18 after experiencing a ‘particularly brutal day of bullying’ at the Altoona Area Junior High School.” The lawsuit itself was filed in Johnstown with the blessing of Wyatt’s mother, Terri Bradford, and “outlines in detail the psychological toll that persistent bullying took on the child.”
So what kind of bullying did Wyatt endure as a student? Well, according to a note the child left behind that “detailed the extent of the bullying, intimidation, and harassment he suffered throughout the school year…the bullying consisted of physical actions, emotional trauma and psychological attacks, including suggestions by his antagonists that he was better off dead and should commit suicide.”
Additionally, the lawsuit also mentioned that Wyatt’s note expressed that “if any good came from his death, it would be that this type of behavior no longer be permitted or turned a blind eye to by the school district.” According to the lawsuit, school district personnel were well aware of the bullying against Wyatt, yet did nothing to stop it. That’s why the boy’s father decided to file the lawsuit against “Altoona Area School District, Superintendent Charles Prijatelj and school board President Don ‘Dutch’ Brennan.”
But didn’t the school have a policy against bullying to protect students from such treatment? The short answer is yes. However, “after the youngster’s death, many parents questioned the policy and clamored for stricter enforcement.” In fact, shortly after Wyatt’s death, the district held a school board meeting to address the matter that saw more than 200 people “demanding changes in the district’s policies and procedures.” During the meeting, individuals pointed out deficiencies in the policy, including the fact that “Wyatt’s parents were never notified by school officials of the persistent bullying,” which, according to the lawsuit, “demonstrated the district’s lack of sensitivity toward the bullying.”
So what does the school district have to say about the matter? As of Monday evening, Carl J. Beard, a school district solicitor, said he “could not discuss the lawsuit because he had not yet seen it.” However, he did say “the district was aware months ago that legal action was a possibility,” and “pointed out there are two sides to every lawsuit.”
For now, the lawsuit seeks the following:
“Compensatory and punitive damages for violation of a section of the federal civil rights statute, pointing out the harm to Wyatt was foreseeable and fairly direct in that (the suicide) was caused by the defendant’s failure to create, implement and enforce a proper plan to address and prevent bullying, intimidation and harassment while affirmatively failing to notify Wyatt’s parents of the ongoing bullying, intimidation and harassment that he was being subjected to as was required by district policy and regulation.”
Join the conversation!