Reply to St. Ann’s (NYC) - Private School Horror Show

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[quote=Anonymous]Preliminarily, I find it very odd that the NYT allowed someone whose child attended St Ann's to write this article. It's also interesting that, while disclosing that the child attended for about six years, it doesn't say whether the child graduated from St Ann's. For all we know, the author's child was also counseled out. Please note: I have no knowledge of this. I just think that given the size of the NYT's staff it's weird that someone whose child attended the school was chosen to write the article.

I feel very sorry for the family, but, that said, there is not a snowball's chance in hell that they will win this lawsuit. It will be very difficult to establish that the refusal to allow Ellis to enroll 3 months earlier was the proximate cause of his suicide. Even if that's established, in and of itself, that's not enough to find the school liable.

It's possible that St Ann's will make a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim and it will be granted. But if that is denied, and discovery is permitted the family may not be happy with what comes out. It's going to be open season on how mom and dad parented this kid. I'll be stunned if the school doesn't have a thick file to CYA.

Much of our sympathy for the family revolves around the fact that the school emailed mom that the family would not be getting a re-enrollment contract for Ellis in February. I doubt this came out of the blue. What if the school had been telling the parents for years that it didn't think it was a good place for Ellis,but it would limp along for elementary school, but the kind of supports he was getting just weren't going to be enough for high school. What if the school told the parents that after 8th grade he would have to go elsewhere and offered to help find another school, but the parents just refused to listen. So mom asked for the contract and the school decided to put it in writing this time--you aren't getting a contract.

There could have a bit of a mutual white lie here. Other schools might ask if Ellis had been asked to withdraw. If the answer was no that might make it easier to find another placement.

I'm also curious as to whether St Ann's has any insurance that may apply here. If so, it may well be the attorneys retained by the insurance company who will defend the case. St Ann's isn't going to say anything that might give the insurer the right to refuse to pay for the defense.

Again, my heart goes out to the family. I'm sure St Ann's could have done better, but I don't think there's sufficient basis to find it liable for the suicide.

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