PHILADELPHIA – The parents of a Springfield High School senior student who committed suicide last year allege that both the district and school personnel’s failure to notify them of the bullying their son endured, prevented them from being able to stop his untimely death.
Gary Byrne (individually and as Administrator of the Estate of Ethan Byrne, deceased) and Genevieve Byrne of Philadelphia first filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on July 19 versus Springfield School District, the Springfield Board of School Directors, its Superintendent Dr. Anthony Barber and Principal Joseph Hepp. All parties are of Springfield.
According to the suit, in a group chat among politically-diverse fellow students and soccer players who were discussing the COVID-19 pandemic and emerging Black Lives Matter movement on June 2, 2020, Ethan made a racial comment to a liberal-minded teammate who had been defending Black Lives Matter.
The suit says Ethan made the “regrettable” remark of, “You’re saying counterpoints that have nothing to do with what I’m saying, because you can’t dispute n—s doing n—r shit.”
After being rebuked for his comment, Ethan admitted he was wrong for making it and profusely apologized. However, the suit adds Ethan was subjected to extensive bullying when he returned to in-person classes the following October.
Furthermore, on the afternoon of Ethan’s passing, fully aware of the magnitude of the bullying Ethan had been enduring and its consequences on Ethan’s delicate psyche and emotional state, Hepp told Ethan to “Watch out, because people are pissed,” meaning numerous other students and their parents were angry with Ethan.
Allegedly, Hepp did nothing else, and did not notify or otherwise attempt to notify Ethan’s parents of the bullying or its consequences on Ethan, as the school’s policy did not require him to do so. The plaintiffs add the failure to notify them of the bullying and foreseeable impact it was having on Ethan deprived them of the ability to take any protective action(s) on Ethan’s behalf.
“On Oct. 19, 2020, seventeen-year-old Ethan shot himself in the head in a desolate wooded area. On that day and four days earlier, Ethan met and spoke extensively with Hepp, the School’s principal, about the unrelenting consistent bullying Ethan was receiving in person at school and through social media,” the suit says.
The suit argues that the District was at fault for Ethan’s death.
“Had Ethan’s parents known the dangers he faced at Springfield High School, they would have immediately intervened and secured proper help for him. Defendants, with utter reckless wanton disregard for Ethan’s well-being, and with full knowledge of the bullying he underwent, concealed and enabled a dangerous school environment to become even more so with Ethan’s death,” the suit states.
“Plaintiffs now bring this suit seeking fair compensation for Ethan’s untimely death and to ensure that, in the future, students in the Springfield School District are kept safe and school administration institutes appropriate mandatory training and policies so no other instances of bullying and aggressive behavior are hidden from the parents of the students with grievous consequences.”
For counts of state-created danger under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983, municipal liability, survival and wrongful death, the plaintiffs are seeking compensatory and punitive damages in an amount to be shown at trial, costs and reasonable attorney’s fees under 42 U.S.C. Section 1988; pre-judgment interest, such other relief as this Court may deem just and appropriate and a trial by jury.
The plaintiffs are represented by Joseph R. Podraza Jr. of Lamb McErlane, in Philadelphia.
The defendants have not yet secured legal counsel.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case 2:21-cv-03199
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com