Phoebe Prince’s Parents Settled School District Lawsuit for $225,000
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(Photo credit: ABC)
The parents of Phoebe Prince, a 15-year-old girl who committed suicide after months of bullying at a Massachusetts high school in January 2010, settled a lawsuit with their daughter’s school district for $225,000.
The settlement was reached over a year ago, but the details were only disclosed on Tuesday when a journalist won a court order to release the information that had previously been sealed, according to the Associated Press.
In July 2010, Prince’s parents, Jeremy Prince and Anne O’Brien, filed a complaint against the South Hadley Public School District with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. They claimed that the school district did not do enough to protect their daughter from bullying.
While school administrators were allegedly informed about the bullying from students and Phoebe’s mother, they were accused of taking no action.
In November 2010, they family reached an agreement and withdrew the complaint but the amount of the settlement was not revealed.
Phoebe Prince moved with her family from Ireland to South Hadley, Mass., in 2009. She entered South Hadley High School and began a brief relationship with Sean Mulveyhill, 18. The relationship apparently angered Mulveyhill’s former girlfriend, Kayla Narey, 18, and even though Prince and Mulveyhill eventually stopped dating Narey and her friends continued to bully and harass Prince in person and online.
Phoebe hanged herself Jan. 14, 2010. Her younger sister found her body in the family’s second-story apartment. Prince’s bullying-related suicide was one of the first cases to initiate a national anti-bullying movement.
Mulveyhill and Narey both pleaded guilty to criminal harassment in Hampshire Superior Court and were sentenced to a year’s probation and community service.
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South Hadley Public School district got of pretty cheap. The students that bullied Phoebe got off cheap. A young woman is gone. Her family is grieving. I am not sure this is justice but pray there can be healing for Phoebe’s loved ones and some deep soul searching for the young adult thugs that thought they were so cool, so special, untouchable and could drive an insecure young girl to her death. There will be a day of judgment when they will have to face Phoebe again. Perhaps she will get to decide their final destination. Then justice will be served.
Posted by: Lin McKay | December 28, 2011, 12:03 pm 12:03 pm
What kind of nefarious assinine reporter would sue the court to get this private information.
A souless pissant I am sure.
Posted by: Randy | December 28, 2011, 12:05 pm 12:05 pm
I hope that the scumbags who harrassed Phoebe to death understand that there are many, many people out there who despise them and wish them nothing but grief. One day, karma will catch up to them and they can all rot in hell. Rest in Peace, Phoebe. You will never be forgotten.
Posted by: L. Moriarty | December 28, 2011, 1:27 pm 1:27 pm
225,000? probation? no wonder we have these types of senseless crimes for that punishment or lack thereof . . .parents sold out.
Posted by: deener | December 28, 2011, 3:07 pm 3:07 pm
She’ll never be forgotten? You’re joking, right?…i mean, sure, by her family and friends she won’t be forgotten….But to complete strangers that post about a news story on a website? She’ll be forgotten as soon as the next story comes along.
Stop acting so involved with something that has nothing to do with you on a personal level. And if you are that attached to a person in a story that doesn’t involve you or your life in the least, then you probably have emotional issues that should be worked out with a professional.
Posted by: superdave35 | December 28, 2011, 3:51 pm 3:51 pm
There is no price that can ever replace Phoebe. The people who turned a blind eye should spend the rest of their lives thinking how they had the opportunity to make a difference and didn’t. They failed – period.
Posted by: MassMom | December 28, 2011, 8:46 pm 8:46 pm