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Jul 3, 2023 · The parents of Ellis Lariviere, a 13-year-old eighth grader who died by suicide after he was informed by Saint Ann’s private school that he couldn’t return for ninth grade, have sued the...
Jul 2, 2023 · - The New York Times. An Elite School, a Boy’s Suicide and a Question of Blame. An eighth grader was asked to leave Saint Ann’s, a prestigious private school in Brooklyn. Three months...
- John Leland
Jul 3, 2023 · Elite school Saint Ann's is being sued after a 13-year-old student died by suicide. The school kicked out Ellis Lariviere in 2021 for struggling academically. His parents launched a...
- Overview
- 'He was under extreme stress'
- He 'screamed and cried for help'
An Italian family is suing the elite New York boarding school where their 17-year-old son died by suicide in February, accusing the school of keeping him in “solitary confinement” while waiting for them to arrive after he was expelled for cheating on a math assignment.
Officials at EF Academy, a private high school in Thornwood, about 35 miles north of New York City, contributed to the death of 17-year-old Claudio Mandia by expelling him and putting him in solitary confinement despite being aware of personal issues that had affected his academic performance, including a bout with Covid and the death of a close family member, according to the suit filed last Friday in Westchester County Supreme Court by his father, Mauro Mandia, and another representative of the boy's estate.
The filing also alleges that the school “often recklessly disregards the psychological needs of its students," noting that a classmate of Claudio had tried kill himself and that Claudio had witnessed it over a year before his own death.
The suit alleges wrongful death, negligence, false imprisonment and emotional distress, among other charges, against the school, its parent company, four school officials identified by name and 20 others who remain unnamed and who the complaint alleges "contributed to the harm set forth." It demands both punishment for the school and compensation for the Mandia family in light of Claudio's death.
A spokesperson for EF Academy said in a statement that the school community remains "deeply saddened by the tragic passing of Claudio Mandia, and our hearts go out to his family, friends, and our entire school community during this unimaginably difficult time."
The statement went on to characterize the filing as containing "multiple inaccurate statements," and disputed the claim that Mandia was "placed in solitary confinement."
Claudio's parents, Mandia and Elisabetta Benesatto, elected to send their son to the elite boarding school — where tuition runs more than $66,000 a year for full-time boarders — more than 4,000 miles from their home in Battipaglia, Italy, because it promised a rigorous academic program that would allow Claudio to fulfill his dream of attending a top university in Italy, according to the complaint.
The school also has two other campuses, in Oxford, England and Pasadena, California.
In the spring of 2020, after he had completed his first two years of high school in Italy, Claudio's parents enrolled him in the EF Academy's two-year International Baccalaureate Program in New York, which provides a "globally recognized elite diploma," the complaint states.
Claudio did well in his first year at the school, according to the complaint, which features comments from his former teachers who called him “a very good math student,” “a great joy to have in class” and “respectful and honest.”
But the his second and final year at the school was beset with challenges, the complaint outlines.
“As EF Academy knew, [Claudio's] term was off to a difficult start and that he was under extreme stress,” the complaint states.
Soon after learning of his relative's death, Claudio "was accused of and admitted to hiring a classmate to draft a math paper for him," the complaint states, adding that he was under "extreme stress" at the time.
The complaint alleges that, as punishment for cheating, school officials expelled him and “forced him into solitary confinement” on Feb. 14 until his parents could pick him up from Italy.
Officials told Claudio not to leave the isolation room and decided that all his meals would be delivered to him, the complaint alleges.
The complaint claims the school also "forbade C.M. from nearly all direct contact with other human beings, allowed rotting trash to accumulate in the room, and on the day before his anticipated departure (and ultimately his death), he was not fed breakfast or lunch, meaning he went nearly 24 hours without a meal,” other than a serving of chicken nuggets from McDonald's.
Claudio “screamed and cried for help while held in solitary confinement” while school officials allegedly ignored his pleas and refused his parents’ request that they allow him to leave the room they were keeping him in, according to the complaint.
The day before he was expected to depart, Claudio interacted with at least three school staff members while displaying signs of attempted suicide on his neck, according to the complaint, which notes that up to 15 of his classmates may have also seen the marks when they visited him to say goodbye, and that many "asked him questions about it."
Apr 30, 2023 · By Benjamin Weiser and Tracey Tully. Published April 30, 2023 Updated May 1, 2023. Last April, Jack Reid, a 17-year-old junior at one of the nation’s elite boarding schools, tucked a Bible into...
Lariviere died by suicide three months later; his suicide note specifically requested that the school not hold a memorial assembly for him. Two years later, in April 2023, Lariviere's parents filed suit against the school, its headmaster, and its board of trustees for wrongful death .
