Court filing: Fairfield Schools ignored alleged bullying

The family of a Fairfield Schools student who killed herself have filed an addendum to their original lawsuit that accuses school officials of not addressing alleged bullying they claim led to their daughter’s suicide.

The April 22 filing by Marc and Cynthia Olsen – parents of deceased Emilie Olsen who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 2014 — in federal court adds details and allegations that were not included in the family’s initial lawsuit filed late last year.

The legal filing is the third by plaintiffs and defendants in the four months since the Olsen's first lawsuit in December.

The latest legal action alleges school officials ignored complaints from the Olsen’s daughter — and other students — about bullying and were unresponsive in fulfilling their responsibilities to end such abuse.

Moreover, in the recent court filing, the Olsen’s further detailed their accusations that school officials attempted to intimidate them by a Fairfield school administrator showing up at their home accompanied by police officers. The Olsens described the incident as an attempt to keep them from talking publicly about their accusations against the school system.

Earlier this month, Fairfield school officials filed a rebuttal to the Olsen’s lawsuit.

In a separate filing, school officials asked the judge in a U.S. District Court in Cincinnati to rule on 10 counts made in the Olsen’s lawsuit without allowing them to introduce evidence.

Local legal experts have said such lawsuits by families are rare and face hurdles in winning.

Fairfield school officials, who have previously declined to comment on the lawsuit and their legal filings in response, did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.

Attorney Pete Ney for the Olsens also did not respond to requests for comment.

The high-profile case has attracted wide attention in part because the allegations by the Olsens include contentions their 13-year-old, adopted Asian daughter suffered racial bullying from classmates at Fairfield Intermediate and Fairfield Middle School in 2013 and 2014.

Her parents tried to get officials to do something about the ongoing physical and verbal harassment, according to their court filing, but they said the district did nothing to stop it in violation of its own policies and the law.

And, according to the Olsens, adults at Fairfield Middle School had adequate warning about Emilie’s declining mental state: She completed a “True Color Personality Quiz” on Nov. 3, 2014, just a few weeks before she shot herself in the head. In that quiz, she described her “bad day symptoms” as “crying, depressing, yelling and screaming, passive resistance, and going into a trance.”

Emilie’s quiz was turned in to school officials and maintained on file, according to the Olsens’ lawsuit.

Fairfield Middle School school never shared the results with Cindy or Marc Olsen, the parents said, and never offered Emilie counseling or support.

The quiz, they claim, was administered less than six weeks before Emilie killed herself.

School officials, however, have refuted the Olsen’s allegations in their legal filing in answer to the family’s lawsuit.

The school defendants stated in their April 12 filing: “The plaintiff’s complaint fails to state plausible claims which entitle the school defendants to judgment on those claims in the pleadings.”

The motion for judgment seeks to absolve all school defendants from the following counts on the basis of points of law:

  • failing to address the bullying
  • failing to respond to sexual discrimination
  • failing to respond to race/national origin discrimination
  • negligence and gross negligence
  • wrongful death
  • breach of duty of care and supervision
  • negligent infliction of emotional distress
  • hazing/bullying violations
  • breach of express or implied contract

The school defendants’ attorneys also asked the judge to dismiss the claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress against the school district, citing a state law that says a school district is a body politic and not an entity that can be sued.

This story includes reporting by staff writer Michael D. Clark and our news partner WCPO 9 On Your Side.

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