FAIRFIELD, Ohio -- The Fairfield City School District wants several people and issues dismissed in a federal lawsuit filed by the parents of a student who allegedly committed suicide over bullying.
Marc and Cynthia Olsen filed a lawsuit in December 2015 after their 13-year-old daughter Emilie committed suicide a year earlier. They sued the school district, school board, several administrators and employees and eight students they claim did the bullying.
They are claiming several theories of liability including wrongful death because they said school officials knew Olsen was bullied because she was Asian and did nothing to stop it.
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In court records, Olsen's parents claim they never received any notification of bullying before her suicide in 2014, when she was a student at Fairfield Middle School. But her student file revealed that she had been bullied.
The school district recently asked the judge to partially dismiss the school board and several administrators. Their stance is they have immunity because they are a political subdivision and couldn’t know the girl would kill herself.
“Plaintiff’s wrongful death claim for decedent’s suicide is preempted by the political subdivision doctrine,” the motion reads. “Furthermore, suicide constitutes an intervening force which breaks the causation chain stemming from a wrongful act and does not render a defendant civilly liable.”
The district has also asked the judge to disregard testimony from 10 witnesses who apparently came forward with more bullying allegations after Olsen’s death.
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