Claudio Mandia hanged himself in a room on the EF Academy in Thornwood in February
Courtesy of @claudio__mandia
An Italian household sued an elite Westchester County boarding faculty the place their 17-year-old son killed himself, accusing officers of conserving the teenager in “solitary confinement” after he was expelled for dishonest on an task.
Alternate scholar Claudio Mandia was discovered lifeless in a room at EF Academy in Thornwood in February, having hung himself on the eve of his 18th birthday.
The teenager had simply been expelled for dishonest on a math task, and was compelled by faculty officers to remain in a room alone, based on the lawsuit filed in Westchester County Supreme Court docket on Friday by his father, Mauro Mandia, and one other consultant of the boy’s property.
The go well with accuses faculty officers of contributing to Claudio’s demise by placing him in solitary confinement whereas he was emotionally susceptible, regardless of realizing that Claudio had been coping with private points that had impacted his faculty efficiency.
“It was painfully foreseeable that forcing [Claudio] into solitary confinement, malnourishing him, and inadequately supervising him after delivering the life-altering information that he could be expelled – all whereas he was enduring different hardships that EF Academy knew about and was treating him for – might end in his tragic demise,” the lawsuit states.
The go well with alleges wrongful demise, negligence, false imprisonment and emotional misery, amongst different expenses in opposition to EF Academy, 4 faculty officers, its mother or father firm and 20 different unnamed defendants. Claudio’s household is demanding punishment for the varsity in addition to compensation.
A spokesperson for the varsity instructed NBC Information in a press release that the filling contained “a number of inaccurate statements” and disputed the declare that Claudio was “positioned in solitary confinement.”
“The narrative that's shared within the authorized submitting is just not correct or based mostly on reality,” the assertion stated. “We're assured that the authorized course of will enable us to offer and show a fact-based authorized case recounting what truly transpired.”
Mandia and Elisabetta Benesatto enrolled their son at EF Academy — which has a whopping tuition of $66,500 per yr for college kids who stay full-time on campus — within the fall of 2020 after he expressed curiosity in a global educational expertise earlier than attending a college in Italy, based on the go well with. He was accepted to the varsity’s two-year Worldwide Baccalaureate Program.
In his first yr on the faculty, he acquired comparatively good grades — together with an “A” in math — and was famous by his lecturers as “having a very good humorousness,” “useful” and “an excellent math scholar,” based on the go well with.
In November 2020, one other Italian scholar who was expelled from the academy additionally tried suicide, based on the go well with, which notes Claudio was not concerned in that incident.
The next yr, bother started for the teenager. He was compelled to remain at house in Battipaglia, Italy after the varsity’s winter break after a number of members of the family contracted COVID-19.
“This triggered [Claudio] to fall behind in his educational work, and when [Claudio] did return to campus after being quarantined, he was below a variety of strain to try to catch up,” the go well with alleges.
“Then, lower than two weeks after his delayed return to campus, [Claudio] suffered the surprising lack of an in depth member of the family, which upset him terribly and triggered him to hunt counseling from EF Academy’s in-house social employee Chelsea Lovece,” the go well with says.
Whereas Claudio was looking for psychological assist, he was expelled for plagiarism and positioned in solitary confinement on Feb. 14 till his mother and father arrived to select him up.
Whereas he was locked up away from all different college students and employees, his meals had been delivered proper to his room, the place trash started to pile up, the go well with alleges.
“[Claudio] screamed and cried for assist whereas held in solitary confinement. EF Academy and the person Defendants callously ignored him,” the go well with says.
The day earlier than he was anticipated to depart the varsity, he encountered three staffers with seen marks on his neck that indicated a earlier suicide try.
The next morning, Claudio’s youthful sister, who was additionally a scholar on the faculty, then pleaded with Lovece to test on her brother. Lovece instructed the lady that she had knocked on his door earlier that morning, and that she believed he was asleep when he didn’t reply.
When she checked on him once more later that morning, he was discovered lifeless.
“EF Academy’s implementation of its solitary confinement protocol, mixed with its grossly negligent – and certainly blatantly abusive – dealing with of [Claudio] identified danger elements, was actually outrageous and warrants the imposition of punitive damages to make sure such conduct doesn't ever occur once more.”
SUICIDE HOTLINE LANGUAGE: In case you are battling suicidal ideas or are experiencing a psychological well being disaster and stay in New York Metropolis, you possibly can name 1-888-NYC-WELL free of charge and confidential disaster counseling. Should you stay outdoors the 5 boroughs, you possibly can dial the 24/7 Nationwide Suicide Prevention hotline at 1-800-273-8255 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.
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