A former student of a prestigious Brisbane boys’ school (the School) has sued the school’s overseeing body, the Presbyterian and Methodist Schools Association, for damages estimated at around $600,000 based on his alleged experiences of serious bullying at the School. The Brisbane Times reports that the statement of claim alleges that there were two serious incidents of physical bullying and a consistent campaign of ridicule led by a group of boys against the former student, who left the school in Year 8. He is now 21 years old.

The Brisbane District Court has given the complainant leave to commence legal proceedings.

The allegations

The complainant began at the School in 2004 as a Year 5 student and attended the School for just over three years. During this time, the complainant alleges that he suffered from humiliation, verbal abuse and two serious physical assaults. The statement of claim describes:

• a teacher ridiculing the complainant in front of his peers when he misunderstood instructions when changing for a swimming class;
• a schoolyard incident in 2005 where the complainant’s nose was fractured by another student’s punch. The injury required surgery; and
• a 2007 incident where the complainant was pushed to the ground and stomped on.

The complainant left the school in early 2007 following the alleged second serious physical incident. He was home schooled for two terms before finishing his education at another school.

Damages for future loss

The large sum of money being sought is based on the complainant’s projected future economic losses caused by the bullying. The complainant states that he suffers from depression and anxiety and has had suicidal thoughts. His lawyer argues that his poor mental health prevented him from succeeding at school, which has limited his career options.

Although rare, such claims are not unprecedented. We have previously reported on two other instances in which similar claims have be brought against schools: Teenager sues school, claiming bullying ruined his life and Former student sues school for loss of earnings from age of 18 to 67.

A failure to respond?

In order for the claim to succeed, it must be demonstrated that there was some failure on the School’s part which caused or contributed to the alleged loss. In this instance, the complainant alleges the School failed to adequately address the bullying. Even though the boy and his mother had complained about the bullying, it is alleged that the School failed to put sufficient measures in place to protect the student, which led to the second physical incident in 2007.

It appears that the School did have a complaints handling process in place which was used by the mother of the complainant and the complainant was given counselling services by the School in response to the bullying incidents. The main criticism levelled at the School is that they allegedly failed to reprimand the perpetrators of the bullying.

The statement of claim argues that the reason why the alleged ringleader was not punished was because his parents were prominent members of the school community who sent several sons to the School. The complainant’s lawyer argues that the complainant, who does not have any brothers, was seen as ‘expendable’ by the School in comparison to his alleged main bully and that the School ‘lacked the willpower’ to use disciplinary action against the alleged perpetrators.

Addressing bullying

Even when the best preventative efforts are taken, it is almost inevitable that every school will have incidents of bullying between students. Given the serious impact that bullying can have on a student’s mental wellbeing, it is essential that schools have detailed policies and procedures in place to encourage victims to come forward and to manage all situations effectively. It is important to not only address the needs of the victim, but also to address the behaviour of the perpetrator to prevent further conflict from arising.

In this situation, the mother of the complainant felt that the needs of her son were neglected due to the eminent position of the alleged perpetrator’s family. Even if this was not the case, such a belief would generally indicate that there has been at least some failure of communication between the parties which has led the complainant and his family to feel that the School was unwilling to fairly address the bullying behaviour.

A core element of a complaints handling policy is the importance of having sufficient follow-up procedures. Schools should be aware that if parents or any other parties are dissatisfied with the response to their complaint they may resort to other, public avenues to achieve a solution. This can lead to backlash among the school community or, in more serious situations, to negative publicity that can seriously damage a school’s reputation.

This case also demonstrates the importance of keeping records of all decisions made in relation to serious bullying incidents. In this case, some of the incidents occurred over a decade ago, and it can be difficult for those involved to remember precisely why certain courses of action were taken. An effective anti-bullying program will have clear procedures in place, and documents kept as evidence which demonstrate that a school followed their policies and procedures can be extremely useful in protecting a school against future claims.