The family of an Ohio 8-year-old boy who committed suicide in 2017 after facing persistent bullying at his Cincinnati school won a victory in court last week when a federal appeals court ruled that their wrongful death lawsuit can move to trial.
After Gabriel Taye, a third-grade student at Carson Elementary School, hanged himself on Jan. 27, 2017, after he faced persistent bullying, his family filed a suit against the Cincinnati Public School District, alleging a “cover-up” occurred “aimed at keeping any information regarding the rampant violence and aggressive behavior at Carson Elementary a secret.
The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the school district’s immunity claim and pointed out evidence that indicated school officials acted “recklessly” in their handling of the boy’s bullying.
“As alleged, (the defendants’) behavior shows ‘conscious disregard of or indifference to a known or obvious risk of harm’ to Taye that was ‘unreasonable under the circumstances’ because they knew Taye was harassed and bullied at school and that a risk of bullying is suicide, and yet they utterly failed to take reasonable steps to protect Taye from that risk,” wrote Judge Bernice Bouie Donald.
Other defendants in the suit include former Superintendent Mary Ronan, former Carson Elementary Principal Ruthenia Jackson, former Vice Principal Jeffrey McKenzie and former school nurse Margaret McLaughlin.
The defendants filed the immunity claim, arguing their actions were in the scope of their official responsibilities.
One of the instances of abuse suffered by Taye cited in court last week includes an incident in which Taye was knocked unconscious by another student, although school officials failed to notify his parents promptly. A school security video from Jan. 24 shows another student hitting Taye in the restroom and knocking him unconscious. Seven minutes passed before an adult realized what was happening.
“The school nurse examined Taye but did not call 911. Instead, an hour after the incident, the school nurse called Taye’s mother and told her that Taye had ‘fainted,’ was ‘alert,’ that his ‘vitals [were] fine,’ and that he didn’t require any additional medical attention. … Jackson and McKenzie never told Reynolds that a student attacked her son in the bathroom, that the same student attacked other boys in the bathroom that day, or that her son was unconscious for more than seven minutes. None of the Defendants reported this incident, either internally or externally,” a judge wrote in the Dec. 29 opinion notes.
School district policy dictates that paramedics must be called if a student is unconscious for more than one minute, although emergency responders were not summoned by school officials in this case.
Taye’s mother, Cornelia Reynolds, took her son to the hospital that night, where he was treated for a stomachache and sent home. He missed school on Jan. 25 but returned on Jan. 26.
On Jan. 27, another bullying incident occurred. Two boys attacked Taye in the bathroom and stole his water bottle before attempting to flush it down the toilet, according to court documents. Taye told a teacher, although “nothing came of it.”
“Taye came home from school that day around 5:30 p.m., took one of his neckties, and used it to hang himself from the top bunk of his bunk bed. Taye’s mother found him hanging from the bunk bed, unresponsive. As Reynolds began administering CPR to Taye, a neighbor heard her screaming and came to help. Reynolds called 911 as her neighbor attempted to revive her son. When the paramedics arrived on the scene, they were unable to revive Taye,” court documents say.
At the time, no charges were filed because the connection between Taye’s suicide and the bullying was “not clear,” a district spokesperson said.
Between Taye’s first- and third-grade years at the elementary school, at least one dozen bullying incidents occurred. His family claims school officials had a pattern of concealing these events, and that more information about the incidents was revealed upon investigation after his death.
In other instances, Taye was kicked and shoved by other students, sustained head injuries, and had multiple teeth removed following an assault. On multiple occasions, Taye’s parents were denied their request to view footage of the attack, and in at least one case were not notified that an incident had occurred at all, while the bullies were not reprimanded.
The next step in the currently proceeding civil rights case is a phase of discovery, said Jennifer Branch, a lead attorney for Taye’s mother.
