This past February, just days before his 18th birthday, Claudio Mandia hanged himself in a dorm room at EF Academy, an elite boarding school in Thornwood, N.Y., which had just expelled him for cheating.
He had gotten another student to complete a math paper for him at a time when, his family said, he was under extreme stress. There had been a death in the family and he had missed school after contracting covid.
Described by peers as an outgoing and generous teen, Claudio, in 2021, was credited for saving another boy’s life after he noticed marks on the student’s wrists and sought help on his behalf.
Tragically, no one was there to rescue Claudio who committed suicide on Feb. 17, the day he was expected to depart from the school, where he had once excelled academically.
That’s where a lawsuit, filed by Philadelphia attorney George Bochetto, comes into play. Bochetto, and Claudio’s parents — Mauro and Elisabetta Mandia — say that the school isolated Claudio from the other students for four days and was negligent in assessing his mental health.
“Presumably to punish (him) for cheating, as if expulsion and public humiliation weren’t enough, EF Academy made conditions even more unbearable for him by isolating him in a room away from all other students and faculty,” the lawsuit contends.
Claudio’s friends and two school administrators visited his room the night before his suicide, and friends say they noticed marks on Claudio’s neck, which he claimed were caused by a fall in the shower.
Whether the administrators observed the marks is unclear, but Bochetto argues that school staff should have been more acutely aware of Claudio’s mental state, especially since he had been engaged in therapy with the school’s social worker since 2020.
EF Academy has denied any wrongdoing.
ISDA President Basil Russo is advocating for Claudio, and he hopes reforms can be set in place to reduce the risk of similar tragedies in the future.
This is a developing story and ISDA will offer updates in the coming weeks.
If you’re thinking about suicide, are worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline network is available 24/7 across the United States. To contact this network, call or text 988.
