Huntsville school officials knew Nigel Shelby was suicidal, lawsuit says
Updated Apr 13, 2021;
Posted Apr 13, 2021
Nigel Shelby, 15, died by suicide in April, 2019. His family has hired a prominent civil rights attorney to investigate the school system s treatment of their son.
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The family of Nigel Shelby, the 15-year-old boy who took his own life in 2019, filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against Huntsville City Schools as well as the city of Huntsville alleging school officials failed to stop him from being bullied because he was openly gay and that bullying led to his suicide.
The lawsuit also maintains that Huntsville school administrators knew that Shelby was considering suicide and took no action.
“We believe that implicit bias and discrimination, whether at the hands of the police who abuse their authority or the hands of school officials who abuse their authority and skirt their responsibilities, is just as important,” said Ben Crump, the attorney who is representing Nigel’s family and also has represented families of Black people killed by the police.
“Nigel never should have died by suicide,” he said from Minnesota, where he is representing the family of George Floyd. Floyd, a Black man, died in police custody last May.
The Alabama lawsuit claims that the teen’s rights were violated under Title IX, a federal civil rights law aimed at preventing sex-based discrimination in schools. It argues Nigel was bullied because of his sex, sexuality and race.
Family of bullied gay teen who killed himself to sue Huntsville City Schools
Updated 10:41 AM;
Today 9:45 AM
Nigel Shelby, 15, died by suicide in April, 2019. His family has hired a prominent civil rights attorney to investigate the school system s treatment of their son.
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The family of an openly gay Huntsville City Schools student who took his own life in 2019 has announced plans to sue the school system for civil rights violations and wrongful death, according to a news release Monday.
The attorneys for the family of Nigel Shelby will be discussing the lawsuit at a news conference Tuesday.
Shelby was 14 when he died on April 18, 2019. His family said that Shelby took his own life because of being bullied because of his sexual orientation as well as depression.
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