Sylvia H. Rambo United States Courthouse in Harrisburg
HARRISBURG – A Pennsylvania school district is blamed for the suicide of a 12-year-old who was bullied for his race and dyslexia.
The Lebanon School District knew this was happening and acted with deliberate indifference, a lawsuit filed yesterday in Harrisburg federal court alleges. The plaintiff is the mother of Yadriel Rivera Jusino, who hanged himself on June 3, 2024.
Jusino was born in 2011 in Puerto Rico and his first language was Spanish. Complicating his transition to American schools was diagnosed dyslexia that, combined with his heritage, left him a target for hostility, the suit says.
In 2022, he made a report to district officials that a student pushed him into a stall and punched him in the face. His sister and stepfather also reported the bullying of Jusino in the years that followed, the suit adds.
“Defendants took no meaningful action in response to Yadriel and his family’s entreaties for help at any time, despite actual knowledge of racially and disability motivated bullying,” the complaint says.
“As a result of the bullying, Yadriel took his own life.”
The suit also claims Nicholas Bullock, principal at Lebanon Middle School, made a notation in Jusino’s file the day after he died that said Bullock had told the stepfather that “we had not received any concerns that I was aware of” and “I had reviewed our system and we did not have any recorded incidents.”
Though the punch in the stall had been recorded in the past, the bullying claims made by the sister and stepfather had not been.
District policy said complaints of bullying need to be investigated promptly, but that didn’t happen here, the lawsuit says. It charges the school district with violating Jusino’s civil rights, failing to train its staff and violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The firm Andreozzi + Foote filed the lawsuit.
“We believe this tragedy was preventable,” said Nathaniel L. Foote, partner at Andreozzi + Foote. “When a school district receives repeated reports that a child is being targeted because of his race and disability, the law requires action. Schools cannot ignore documented complaints and clear warning signs. The consequences of inaction can be devastating.”
