Fifth Grade Teacher ‘Relentlessly Bullied’ 11-Year-Old Boy for Months and Florida School Board ‘Took No Action’ To Stop It Before He Took His Own Life, Wrongful Death Lawsuit Alleges
The parents of a young boy who committed suicide two years ago are suing a Florida school board, alleging board members did nothing to stop a fifth-grade teacher who mercilessly bullied the child and encouraged his classmates to do the same.
According to Ocala News and WCJB, parents Tyka Johnson and Louis Johnson Jr., filed a complaint against the Marion County School Board.
In the wrongful death suit cited by the news outlet, the Johnsons said that their 11-year-old son, Louis Johnson III, was “continuously, consistently and relentlessly publicly bullied” by his teacher, Donna Marie White, when he was a student at Legacy Elementary School in Ocala.
The complaint alleges that for several months, White engaged in an “open, notorious, and protracted pattern of bullying by systematically and chronically inflicting hurt and/or psychological distress on Louis Johnson III, including but not limited to, unwanted and repeated verbal humiliation and insulting behavior, and encouraging other students to engage in the same behavior” against their son.
White allegedly called Johnson “stupid” and told him, “You don’t know anything.”
A few months before the 10-year-old’s passing, Johnson’s parents complained to school administrators about White’s conduct and tried to solicit help from the Marion County School Board, asking board members to schedule conferences with the elementary school’s leadership, but the committee “took no action,” the lawsuit reads.
“Despite the Marion County School Board being aware of its agent and/or employee, Ms. White and Legacy Elementary’s actions and omissions and Plaintiff’s attempts to resolve this matter, Defendant Marion County School Board took no action,” one part of the lawsuit reads.
Johnson’s parents said that as a result of the school board’s negligence and failure to address the severe bullying, their son began experiencing “anxiety, depression, sleeplessness, crying, nightmares, fear, anguish and embarrassment.”
They claim their son “felt like there was no escaping the incessant and daily public humiliation bullying” by White, leading to the 10-year-old’s untimely death in April 2023.
The complaint states that Johnson used a firearm to take his own life. He was rushed to a hospital, where he died two days after he was admitted.
Johnson’s parents went to his school afterward and passed out suicide prevention flyers, which also listed their allegations against White.
The school district launched an investigation into the educator and interviewed more than two dozen student witnesses, twelve of whom were in Johnson’s class.
According to the investigative report, White once allegedly told Johnson, “I don’t know why you’re talking because you don’t even know anything. You don’t know nothing in this class. Isn’t that right kids?”
Students also claimed White would get mad when a student got an answer wrong and would sometimes make remarks about students’ grades in the classroom. They also said her intimidating behavior sometimes made some students cry.
District officials concluded that White repeatedly inflicted psychological distress on several children by “verbally insulting, humiliating, and embarrassing students”.
White’s contract with the school system was not renewed following the investigation.
The Johnsons are seeking at least $75,000 in damages, exclusive of “interests, costs, or attorneys’ fees.”