Murray County Schools, and Murray County High School Principal G.L., have been named in a wrongful death lawsuit by the parents of a student they allege was so bullied at school that he took his own life, as reported by the Dalton Daily Citizen.
The boy, T.L., 17, was also the subject of the recently released documentary, “Bully”, a film directed by Lee Hirsch. “Bully” is scheduled to be shown in the T.L.’s hometown of Dalton, Murray County.
The lawsuit, filed in Rome, claims that the school was aware of students bullying T.L. yet they failed to make changes to prevent it.
“Bully” has come under scrutiny by the online publication, “The Slate”, for failing to give the full account of T.L.’s story. Slate Writer Emily Bazelon stated that T.L. suffered with personal and psychiatric issues – including the form of autism known as Asperger’s – that were not addressed in the film. Bazelon contends that these were issues that may have contributed to his decision to commit suicide.
Additionally, Bazelon stated that the film fails to include more from the school’s perspective.
The film’s producer, Cynthia Lowen, told the press that court documents that included the story from both the school’s perspective and T.L.’s were well known to those involved in the project. Because the family shared their sorrow with the community, in hopes of making a change and fight bullying in a public forum, that was the angle they decided to go with.
The school was also given an opportunity to attend the same public forum, but they chose not too, stating they would wait for the case to go to court.
In defense of the film’s perspective, Hirsch told Entertainment Weekly that the “fact that (T.L.) was on the (autism) spectrum does not reduce the school system’s responsibility to provide a safe learning environment.”
The school has presented evidence in court, in the form of T.L.’s suicide note and a text to a friend, that they believe supports their view that bullying did not play a large part in the boy’s fatal decision. In asking for the suit to be dismissed, the defendants contend that neither piece of evidence even mentions bullying.
Winston Briggs, the attorney for T.L.’s parents, has asked Judge Harold Murphy to seal some of the information brought forward by the defense.
Briggs contends that T.L.’s psychologist believes that the boy failed to mention the bullying in his suicide note because of other issues he was trying to manage.
Both T.L.’s parents, and other students, have stated that the boy told others of his plans to hang himself because he was worthless. His fellow students also said that in each and every day at school the boy was either physically, verbally or sexually harassed or bullied.
Whether your child was bullied into an early grave, or others contributed to his death in any way, you have grounds for filing a wrongful death lawsuit. Contact a personal injury lawyer for help today!