Lawsuit claims teacher shamed fifth-grade student who passed away by suicide

The parents of a Florida fifth grader who took his own life after allegedly being bullied by a teacher, who is accused of recruiting other students to mock the boy, have sued the school district where she worked.

Louis Johnson III died by suicide in April 2023, at the age of 10, according to a wrongful-death lawsuit filed in early April by his parents, Louis Johnson Jr. and Tyka Johnson. The lawsuit says that Louis was subjected to extreme bullying, sometimes led by a staff member, Louis’ own teacher Donna White.

“Ms. White constantly, consistently, and relentlessly publicly humiliated minor child Louis Johnson, III in front of this peers, calling him ‘stupid’ and ridiculing him in front of his classmates on several occasions over the span of months,” the complaint says. White also allegedly “would also recruit other students to ridicule minor child Louis Johnson III and ask these other minor student classmates to agree with her comments that Louis Johnson, III was ‘stupid’ and that he ‘didn’t know anything.””