Jury awards a family $5M and says football coach’s actions caused their son’s suicide
BOSTON — The family of a teenager who died by suicide was awarded $5.4 million this week after a jury found that his football coach and several school administrators were negligent in the way they responded before the 15-year-old’s death .
Nathan Bruno committed suicide in 2018 after his family alleged that then-Portsmouth High School football coach Ryan Moniz pressured the boy to reveal the names of other students involved in sending harassing text messages and phone calls to the coach. The family also claims that Moniz pressured footballers Bruno to provide the names.
The jury’s decision Wednesday found that Moniz was both negligent and that his actions caused Bruno’s suicide — meaning he alone was responsible for the jury award, which would be paid out by the school district. The boy’s father, Richard Bruno, declined to comment Friday on the jury’s decision. Moniz did not immediately respond to a message sent to his school email.
This isn’t the first time a school district has had to pay after a student committed suicide. A school district in Utah in 2023 agreed to pay $2 million to the family of a black, autistic ten-year-old girl who committed suicide after being harassed by her classmates.
Bruno’s suicide led to the school committee removing Moriz as football coach, although he is still listed as a teacher on the district’s website. The Rhode Island Legislature passed a law in 2021, named in Bruno’s honor, that requires all public school districts to adopt a suicide prevention policy and train school staff in suicide awareness and prevention.
The lawsuit filed by Bruno’s family alleges that the coach, the city of Portsmouth and several school administrators “breached their duties” to Bruno, causing “mental and emotional stress” on him in the weeks before his death. They say the defendants failed to inform Bruno’s parents of a police investigation involving him, transferred him to another physical education class without informing his parents, allowed Moriz to put him under pressure and did not meet the student who had offered to apologize for calling. .
Jamestown Detective Derek Carlino, who investigated the case after Moniz filed a complaint, was also accused of sharing confidential police information about Bruno with Moniz. The jury found that a former Portsmouth High School principal and assistant principal and Carlino were negligent.
“It was just a total failure, pressuring a boy,” Peter Cerilli, who along with John Foley represented the parents, told The Providence Journal. “There was actually bullying by the coach.”
“We have tremendous respect for Judge Licht and the jury system,” Marc DeSisto, who represented the city, told The Associated Press on Friday. “There are still fundamental legal issues pending in the Superior Court and possibly the Supreme Court of Rhode Island that will impact the decision on whether someone should be held responsible for the suicide of another.”
Melody Alger, who represented Carlino and Jamestown, said her clients were “grateful” they were not held liable for Bruno’s death.
“Although Detective Carlino and the City of Jamestown were disappointed with the finding of negligence, my clients are pleased that they prevailed and are grateful that the jury agreed that the Jamestown defendants did not cause the tragic death of Nathan Bruno caused,” she said in a statement.
The jury awarded the family $3.1 million, which, with interest since the boy’s death, would rise to $5.4 million.