BETHESDA, Md. — Parents of a 16-year-old student have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a private school in Maryland after the student took his own life. An attorney for the family says the parents filed the lawsuit Thursday in an effort to spur policy changes within the school.
The lawsuit was filed by Dawn and Scott Schnell, parents of Charlie Schnell, a sophomore at Landon School, a private school for boys in Bethesda. The 81-page lawsuit alleges that school officials did not do enough to alert the parents about their son's fragile mental state leading up to his suicide in March of 2022.
According to the lawsuit, Charlie Schnell was dealing with a number of mental health issues related to the recent suicide of a close friend's family member, as well as threats of a potential shooting on the school's campus. While the shooting threats proved unfounded, the lawsuit alleges the threats themselves caused mental stress for the teen.
On top of mental health issues, the suit refers to health issues and physical injuries the 16-year-old suffered, including recent dental surgery and a concussion suffered at a school wrestling practice.
The lawsuit points to a specific journal entry he wrote for an English class that makes clear his struggles. That entry was not flagged by the teacher, who is also named as a defendant in the wrongful death suit.
"C.S.'s suicide was the tragically foreseeable consequence of Landon's mounting and egregious failures to protect him from harm," the lawsuit reads.
In the months leading up to his death, the lawsuit also discusses how the school handled an incident involving the young man and the allegation of a racist drawing allegedly made by Charlie Schnell and shared with a fellow student.
The alleged drawing — which according to the suit, was not seen by anyone in a leadership position at the school — was the subject of mounting anger toward Charlie Schnell on campus. The lawsuit says the school made matters worse by having administrators engage in "extensive discussions with other students, parents and faculty that essentially corroborated C.S.’s rumored role regarding the drawing, further inflaming the animus against him. Such discussions included a large, lengthy meeting on Monday, March 14, 2022 with students in the Sophomore class ... where the drawing was discussed and where the palpable, roiling anger towards C.S. was evident."
Again, the lawsuit says the teen's parents were not made aware of the discussions had at the school.
The allegations eventually led to Schnell's withdrawal from the school under threat of expulsion.
"After his withdrawal from Landon, C.S. continued to be in a zone of danger from the continued and concerted animus and anger against him. C.S. was socially excluded, shunned, bullied, labeled a racist and threatened by his Landon peers during this period," the lawsuit reads.
Days after his withdrawal, on March 27, 2022, Charlie Schnell hanged himself in his room using a Landon School banner, the lawsuit says.
“At all relevant times, Landon did not have a written anti-bullying policy that required prompt investigation, provided for anonymous reporting or mandated notification to the parents of a bullied student," the lawsuit says.
In a statement to the student's friends and family posted to Charlie's Instagram page, Dawn Schell explained the reason for filing the lawsuit.
"Your hearts may be heavy but please remember that Charlie and Mr. Schnell and I do not hold kids responsible for his death. The accountability we seek is from the school and those adults who failed Charlie," the post says.
A spokesperson for the school issued a statement to WUSA9, saying it strongly disagrees with the claims made in the suit.
"At Landon, we have no higher duty than supporting the well-being of our boys, a role we take very seriously. We continue to feel only compassion for the grief that this family is experiencing over the devastating loss of their son. And while we strongly disagree with the claims and characterizations made in their lawsuit, we will continue to navigate this situation with respect, compassion, and sensitivity," a spokesperson said.
If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, help is available via the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988. Additional resources can be found here.