Family of NJ girl, 12, who died by suicide after bullying gets $9.1M

The family of a 12-year-old New Jersey girl who took her own life after a relentless campaign of cyber-bullying will receive a $9.1 million settlement from the school district – the largest payout in state history for a bully case.

Mallory Grossman, a sixth-grader at Copeland Middle School, committed suicide on June 14, 2017, after enduring cruel taunts by some of her classmates, including, “When are you going to kill yourself?”

“Seth and I are satisfied with the settlement, ready to put this part behind us and move forward, continuing to lend our voice to the epidemic that is stealing our children’s future,” Mallory’s mom Dianne Grossman said Wednesday, NorthJersey.com reported.

The young cheerleader’s death sparked debate on bullying that led to the Garden State’s passage in January 2022 of Mallory’s Law, which requires school districts to report and act on complaints.

“This settlement is one more step in dealing with this avoidable tragedy, and I hope that it sends a clear message to all schools around the country that our children must be protected from the horrors of school bullying,” the family’s attorney Bruce Nagel said, according to the outlet.

The family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit June 2018 against the Rockaway Township school district and board, the principal and municipality, alleging that the school ignored the “ongoing and systemic” bullying directed at Mallory, who killed herself at her home.

One took a surreptitious photo of Mallory by herself, then texted it to her with the caption, “You have no friends,” the suit said.

In another instance, a student sent a similar photo to classmates via Snapchat with the caption “U have no friends” and “Poor Mal,” according to the filing.

The family claimed that educators ignored their complaints.

The district had said it was “committed to protecting” students and denied allegations that it hadn’t done enough to stop the harassment, calling the allegations “categorically false,” NorthJersey.com reported.

Then-Superintendent Greg McGann stepped down on July 1, 2018.

Current Superintendent Richard Corbett did not immediately respond to a request for comment by the outlet.

The parents have produced the documentary “Mallory” in 2020 and founded Mallory’s Army, a nonprofit dedicated to educating families and school administrators about the dangers of bullying.  

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