The parents of a Latin School of Chicago student who died by suicide in 2022 after experiencing relentless bullying have filed a second lawsuit against the school.
The lawsuit, filed on June 5, accuses the elite private school of refusing to provide their son’s records to them, which included multiple reports of bullying.
Robert and Rose Bronstein lost their son Nate, 15, to suicide in January 2022 after he was brutally bullied on social media.
The initial $100 million lawsuit, filed in April 2022, claimed that the school turned a blind eye to the situation.
The Bronsteins now argue it’s their right to access their child’s school records and believe that the school is withholding them to hide evidence of negligence.
‘We are entitled to our child’s school records, regardless of a loss,’ Nate’s father, Robert said to the Chicago Tribune.
Robert and Rose Bronstein lost their son Nate, 15, (pictured) to suicide in January 2022 after he was brutally bullied on social media
The parents of Nate have filed a second lawsuit against the school. The lawsuit, filed on June 5, accuses the elite private school of refusing to provide their son’s records, which include multiple reports of bullying
‘Any parent is, and the school has that statement in their policies and in their handbook that says if a parent wants their children’s school files, here’s the department that you go to. They are refusing because, obviously, whatever’s in the school files will show their negligence.’
The new lawsuit states that the school violated a state law that requires all Illinois schools to investigate reports of bullying and notify parents of students involved.
In addition, it accuses the school of allowing a culture of bullying.
There is an entire Instagram page called Latin Survivors that highlights alleged instances of bullying at the school, as well as harassment and hate speech from current and former students.
The Bronsteins’ attorney, Danielle Gould, requested their son’s school records from the Latin, but the school declined to provide them, citing the handbook not being a contractual obligation.
Gould emailed Latin School’s attorney, Michael Trucco of the law firm Stamos & Trucco, on April 6 to request Nate’s student records, according to the new lawsuit.
Handing over student records does not necessarily require a lawyer, but Robert said that because of the pending lawsuit they requested their son’s file through counsel.
The school refused to hand over the records after more than two months of requests. The school’s handbook states that parents can examine the files by contacting the division director for an appointment.
The parents argue that they have the right to access their child’s school records and are critical of the school for not providing them.
‘They don’t want us to put it out in the public. They don’t want us to embarrass them, but we’re entitled to do whatever we want with our children’s school files. They belong to us,’ Rose said to the Chicago Tribune.
‘That’s why they won’t give them to us. But if they had nothing to hide, if there was documentation that they did everything by the book and followed law, what problem do they have turning our school files over to us?’
Rose said not only her family, but all parents of students involved in the bullying were kept in the dark, according to the Chicago Tribune.
‘All parents, understandably, always have their child’s best interests in mind. A lot of the parents of the bullies in our case have expressed tremendous frustration and disappointment at the Latin School,’ she said.
‘Not only were they not informed when the school was required to inform them in December, the school didn’t inform them after our son died. Many of these people found out about their child’s involvement when our attorney contacted them six weeks later.’
In an email Thursday, Latin School said to the Chicago Tribune, ‘out of respect for all involved, we believe it is not appropriate to comment on this litigation at this time.’
In an email Thursday, Latin School said to the Chicago Tribune, ‘out of respect for all involved, we believe it is not appropriate to comment on this litigation at this time’
According to the initial lawsuit, the bullying began when a false rumor about the student’s vaccination status was spread by another student. The bullying escalated, with members of the junior varsity basketball team engaging in cyberbullying through a group chat and Snapchat
According to the initial lawsuit, the bullying began when a false rumor about the student’s vaccination status was spread by another student.
The bullying escalated, with members of the junior varsity basketball team engaging in cyberbullying through a group chat and Snapchat.
‘We were aware of the bullying because he would come home and share with us information about what kids were doing to him,’ Nate’s mother, Rosellene said to the Chicago Tribune.
‘The isolation, the exclusion, the not feeling welcome. But Rob and I were not made aware of the cyberbullying that happened — ever.’
Nate reported the bullying to a school administrator, but the parents claim they were not informed about the cyberbullying until after their son’s death.
‘As human beings, we will never heal from this,’ his mother said.
‘It terrorizes me and haunts me day after day. I suffer from severe post-traumatic stress disorder from this as well,’ she added. ‘No human being should ever have to go through this, but our mission is to heighten awareness of how dangerous bullying and cyberbullying is.
‘I don’t think that society has woken up to the fact that this is an urgent crisis and a true epidemic,’ Rose said.
The parents criticize the school for failing to address the bullying promptly and for not notifying them or other parents involved in the incidents.
They argue that the school violated state law by not investigating reports of bullying and not notifying parents as required.
The parents also express concern about the school’s lack of urgency and assert that the school has fostered a culture of bullying.
In addition to the lawsuit, the parents highlight the urgent need for social-emotional learning tools for teenagers.
They stress the importance of addressing bullying and cyberbullying as a pressing crisis and epidemic. Nate’s parents believe that society needs to be more aware of the dangers and consequences of bullying.
The initial lawsuit is seeking $100 million in damages, intend to share any money awarded with anti-bullying organizations.
They express their disappointment with the Latin School’s lack of empathy, accountability, and respect for their son and his memory.
On December 13, 2021, Nate met with the dean of students to report the bullying, but the dean took no disciplinary action against any student. The parents claim they were not informed about the cyberbullying until after their son’s death
The Bronsteins claim the Dean of Students Bridget Hennessy (pictured) had felt the need to notify them that Nate had been given a notice for not wearing his facial mask properly, but not that he had reported being bullied online by classmates
They enrolled Nate at the school in 2021 after his institution was still opting for virtual learning and his parents wanted him to go back in-person.
However, when he got to Latin School, he was immediately met with students who said he transfer for ‘nefarious reasons,’ questioned his vaccination status, and accused his parents of being anti-vaxxers, according to Rose.
‘They spread rumors that he was unvaccinated, which, of course, at the time was like The Scarlet Letter,’ Rose said, adding that her son had in fact had the jab.
The 15-year-old boy eventually asked for a meeting with the dean at the Latin School to report that several students were bullying him via text messages and on Snapchat – one of which encouraged him to kill himself.
The dean listened to Nate, a 10th-grader, but took no disciplinary action, according to a $100million lawsuit filed by his parents.
His parents had already been planning to transferred Nate at the end of the year after hearing about his experience, but it had already been too late.
One month after his meeting, Nate was found hanged at his home.
Prior to his death, his parents had encouraged him to join the junior varsity basketball team, hoping he’d make friends, but the bullying only got worse. When Latin played his old school, Nate posted a ‘W’ for win as his former school had taken the prize, which upset his teammates.
In a group chat of around 20 boys, messages like ‘don’t show up tomorrow’ and ‘snake ass n****’ floated his phone for hours. The family’s lawsuit accuses the boy of even threatening to harm Nate.
The day after Nate took his own life, other parents evidence of the bullying to Head of Students Randall Dunn, according to Fox News. However, according to the lawsuit, the school had not given this evidence to the Bronsteins until two weeks after their son’s death.
‘January 13th was the most horrific day of our lives. And to me, January 27, when we found out what had happened, it was like reliving that trauma all over again. It was absolutely shocking,’ Rose said.
‘Our son would still be alive today if Latin would have done their job and reported to us what had gone on within the school,’ Rose Bronstein told CBS News last month.
Nate hadn’t been at the Latin School of Chicago, one of the most prestigious private schools in Chicago, for long, but he had a promising future.
His parents described the 10th-grader as being a ‘super-sharp, funny kid.’
‘He definitely wanted to go to a college that had big time sports,’ his father Robert Bronstein told CBS News. ‘He loved to make people laugh, and laugh himself.’
But the school was ‘a toxic culture,’ Rose said. ‘So toxic that we lost our son from it.’
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