This past Friday, one Italian family brought forth and slammed a lawsuit against the elite New York boarding school EF Academy in the wake of the suicide by hanging of 17-year-old Claudio Mandia who was being forcibly held in what the suit labeled as “solitary confinement.”
The teenager had been expelled from the high-priced school in the wake of cheating on a math assignment. He was then forced to stay in a single room alone until retrieved by his parents in person from the facility. The suit claims that all food was brought to him and he was not allowed to leave, as reported by The New York Post. The family stated that Mandia was very vulnerable at that time, in the wake of falling behind in classes stemming from COVID-related issues along with many other factors, and was “falsely imprisoned” within the academy. He was found dead by hanging as of the 17th of February, 2022.
“It was painfully foreseeable that forcing [Claudio] into solitary confinement, malnourishing him, and inadequately supervising him after delivering the life-altering news that he would be expelled – all while he was enduring other hardships that EF Academy knew about and was treating him for – could result in his tragic death,” stated the suit, which was filed out in the Westchester County Supreme Court.
The teen was made to remain in Italy and miss school due to members of his family coming down with COVID and Mandia reportedly ended up falling behind quite a bit academically.
“This caused [Claudio] to fall behind in his academic work, and when [Claudio] did return to campus after being quarantined, he was under a lot of pressure to try and catch up,” the lawsuit expressed.
To make things worse, the teen went through a loss in the family. The struggles afflicting Claudio were apparently known to the school since the boy attempted to issue counseling from Chelsea Lovece, the EF Academy’s in-house social worker, as expressed in the suit.
“EF Academy’s implementation of its solitary confinement protocol, combined with its grossly negligent – and indeed blatantly abusive – handling of [Claudio] known risk factors, was truly outrageous and warrants the imposition of punitive damages to ensure such conduct does not ever happen again,” claims the suit.
One of the teen’s sisters, who was also enrolled in the academy, was intensely worried about her brother, explained to Lovence her worries, and pushed Lovece to reach out to her brother. Claudio was then discovered dead in the room by a torn bed sheet.
“We remain 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,” explained the academy in a release, as reported by the Daily Voice. “The safety of our school community is always our top priority, and we take the physical and mental well-being of our students extremely seriously.”
“The narrative that is shared in the legal filing is not accurate or based on fact. We are confident that the legal process will allow us to provide and prove a fact-based legal case recounting what actually transpired,” the statement expressed.
The family now wants to punish the school along with seeking compensation, reported the Post.
