School lawsuit alleging bullying ends with settlement

July 15--CARL JUNCTION, Mo. -- The insurance company and attorneys representing the Carl Junction School District on Monday settled a federal wrongful death lawsuit filed by parents whose son committed suicide after allegedly being bullied.

According to a notice filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, the lawsuit was dismissed and a settlement of $300,000 was paid to the parents by the Missouri United School Insurance Council. The district is a member of the statewide pool.

The action, filed on behalf of Mika and Jessica Nugent, alleged district officials failed to protect their 14-year-old son, Luke, from bullying, which ultimately led to him taking his own life.

Named as defendants along with the school district were Superintendent Phillip Cook, junior high Principal Scott Sawyer, bus driver David Roughton, Assistant Superintendent Gary Reed, junior high Assistant Principal Trevor Chase, high school Assistant Principal Theresa Wilson and junior high counselor Ben Withers.

The lawsuit claimed nine counts including wrongful death, negligence, violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, liability in unconstitutional misconduct by subordinates and denial of substantive due process.

Cook, who has been in the district's central office for 14 years, said it is the only lawsuit in which the district has ever been involved.

According to a petition filed in May 2013, the family alleged Luke was bullied and harassed after he came out as bisexual while attending Carl Junction Junior High School as a seventh-grader.

"After coming out, (Luke) was the subject of ridicule, harassment, torment and bullying," the documents say. "This ridicule, harassment, torment and bullying took place both at school and on the school bus."

The lawsuit alleges that it included sexual orientation slurs, physical threats, and the theft and destruction of his personal property.

Family members contended in the court documents that they reported the harassment to school employees and that the defendants did not keep an eye out for Luke.

The court documents also say that on March 14, 2013, the last day of school before spring break, Luke was dropped off at his bus stop and another student allegedly yelled out the window for him to "do everyone a favor and hang himself."

Luke spent March 15 with friends and family. On the morning of March 16, the boy's parents found that he had hanged himself in his bedroom.

School district attorney Tom Mickes, of the St. Louis law firm of Mickes, Goldman and O'Toole, said Tuesday that the decision to settle was not made by the school board or by district administrators.

"Virtually every insurance policy has a provision that gives the insurance carrier the right to settle," he said. "They exercised the right to do that."

Mickes said he could not share what figure the lawsuit sought, only that it had "six zeroes."

Mickes said it was "important for readers to know the attorneys and insurance company" were the ones at the table.

"Whenever a young person loses his life, for whatever reason, it's a tragedy, and the position of our district is we place the highest priority on the education and safety of our kids."

In an interview Tuesday, Cook said that before he answered any questions, he wanted to say that the focus should be on the Nugent family.

"Any stress myself and other defendants have been under is nothing compared to the feelings the Nugent family has had -- not even close," Cook said. "That should be where the focus is. They lost their son. That breaks our heart. They're the ones that need to continue to be prayed for and thought about. There are no hard feelings at all from myself or the district in any way. We wish this never would have happened, but unfortunately it did. The bottom line is we had a young man who was bright, likable, fun, and it's a tragedy. The focus needs to be on the family. I pray for the family, and I have since it happened."

Cook said that tools are in place that allow students to report bullying, including a new online reporting system that started in January. Called Sprigeo, it sends a detailed email to school administrators when a student fills out information. It also stores each incident report in a secure online database that allows the district to track and analyze reports.

"We talk about bullying, and our staff is trained in suicide prevention," Cook said. "We are daily making sure they are safe, taken care of, and we will continue to do that. If we come across new strategies in the future, we'll implement those just like we have always done. The safety of our kids is always our No. 1 priority."

In earlier interviews with the Globe, Jessica Nugent said she would not comment on the lawsuit. An attempt to reach her for comment on Tuesday was unsuccessful. A message left Tuesday with the Nugents' attorney, Jonathan Soper, of Independence, was not returned.

The settlement announcement comes just as the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Network prepares to release a new report today. Called "From Statehouse to Schoolhouse: Anti-Bullying Policy Efforts in U.S. States and School Districts," it examines the anti-bullying policies of 13,181 school districts across the country and whether state laws and guidance are being implemented at the district level, according to the organization.

The report also explores whether state and district policies to protect students specifically on the basis of personal characteristics such as sexual orientation require professional development for educators on bullying and district accountability for incident reporting, and whether those policies affect the school climate for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students.

Federal case

The case had been scheduled to go to trial in October in Springfield. The lawsuit initially was filed in Jasper County Circuit Court but was transferred to U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

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