EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, help is available by calling or texting the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24/7.
NORTHAMPTON — A mother’s legal battle against the city claiming wrongful death after her daughter took her life in 2020 amid alleged bullying at Northampton High School will continue after a federal judge this week rejected the city’s motion for summary judgment on the case.
The plaintiff, identified in court documents as “Jane Doe,” filed a lawsuit against Northampton in U.S. District Court in 2023, alleging wrongful death, civil rights violations and retaliation, arguing that the school neglected to take necessary steps to investigate, or end, the bullying.
At a summary judgment hearing in July, Judge Mark Mastroianni heard from both the plaintiff, represented by attorney Laura Mangini, as well as the city, represented by attorney Jason Crotty, who both presented evidence to argue why the case should, or should not, go to trial.
Mastroianni published a memorandum responding to the summary judgment hearing on Sunday, and noted that a trial would likely be necessary to determine whether the city was at fault in the girl’s death after school officials categorized confrontations between the 16-year-old and her alleged bullies as “peer-on-peer conflict,” allegedly to avoid a formal bullying investigation.
“The court found that a duty of care exists between a public school and a student at foreseeable risk of suicide,” Mastroianni wrote. “A jury could find that the (Northampton High School) used an amorphous and uncodified definition of ‘peer-on-peer conflict’ as an escape mechanism to avoid investigating legitimate bullying accusations.”
The girl, described in the lawsuit as a biracial child suffering from anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, was allegedly bullied by a group of children her own age the summer before she entered Northampton High School in 2018, around her 15th birthday, the lawsuit states.
By spring of 2019, the girl did not feel comfortable attending school, and attempted suicide that May, the lawsuit states. As a result, the state Department of Children and Families contacted the school, but the school official who investigators spoke with downplayed the bullying as “peer-on-peer conflict” and also characterized the girl as the aggressor, according to court documents.
In one instance, fellow students created a Snapchat group to roast the student and one participant said she should kill herself, according to the judge’s decision.
On three separate occasions, the girl received medical notes to stay home from school, both issued by a child psychologist and by Cooley Dickinson Hospital after she went to its crisis unit, according to the judge’s memorandum. However, Northampton High School did not excuse her from school, arguing that the notes were insufficient.
“During her stay at a treatment center following her overdose, she shared with the medical staff that she needed the bullying to stop and that she was not understanding why NHS [Northampton High School] waited so long to help her,” the memorandum stated.
An adjustment counselor at the school, Andrea Lydon, failed to report that the girl told her, “This is what bullying will do to you,” after she returned to school from a treatment center following a suicide attempt in April 2019, court documents state.
A second adjustment counselor, Edward Stone, did not report a threat of physical violence made by one student against the girl after she and her mother brought it to his attention in November 2019, according to the judge’s memorandum. The student attacked the plaintiff’s daughter the following day.
“There is ample evidence to show that NHS was also aware of how the intensified in-person and cyber-harassment was impacting [the girl]. Aside from the issue of her lack of attendance, NHS was aware that she tried to commit suicide twice and that she had linked her first suicide attempt to the bullying,” the memorandum stated. “A jury could reasonably infer NHS showed deliberate indifference by requiring [the girl] to attend school while not addressing her psychological and physical safety concerns.”
All parties along with the suit are expected to be heard in a status conference on Sept. 9, where they will determine whether they are interested in mediating and potentially settling the suit or going to trial.
Mangini, in an interview Wednesday afternoon, said that while she is hopeful the matter can be reasonably settled, she is prepared and willing to take it to trial. She explained that she was pleased with the court’s decision.
“We believe that the court understood what the issues in this case really are and what the plaintiff has always focused on, that the city’s unofficial policy is to downplay and misclassify bullying that was going on within its school district, especially when it involves students of color,” Mangini said. “We are pleased to see that the court understood that and is allowing it to move forward.”
While the state enacted an anti-bullying law in 2010, Mangini explained that it can be challenging to hold school districts legally accountable for neglecting to report or properly investigate bullying.
“This case is indicative of a larger problem in Massachusetts. Generally speaking, it’s very, very, very difficult to pursue these types of bullying cases, no matter how horrific the outcome is,” she said. “There are anti-bullying laws in Massachusetts that school districts are supposed to follow … What we see is that there is no legal recourse, generally speaking, if a school district in Massachusetts doesn’t doesn’t necessarily follow the statute.”
In August 2024, Attorney Jeffrey Trapani, who formerly represented the city in this case, said that the “incidents or events as alleged in the plaintiff’s complaint were not caused by any person for whose conduct [the school] is legally responsible.”
The city also previously made the defense that the student or her mother were “more than 50% at fault in causing the alleged injuries,” and subsequently negligence statues did not apply.
Crotty could not be reached immediately for comment on Wednesday.
