State Supreme Court Justice Phyllis Flug in Queens on Wednesday dismissed the bulk of a suit by Bergouhi Elissa, the mother of Elijah Mendez, because her son took his life in 2010 at their apartment and not while under supervision of the school.
Elissa, who is seeking funeral expenses and other damages, claimed that officials at the school in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens failed to respond to repeated complaints that the seventh grader was being taunted because of his "perceived sexual orientation."
The judge dismissed all of Elissa's claims over the suicide but allowed her to proceed with claims against the Department of Education that the school failed to prevent the bullying.
"A school is under a duty to adequately supervise the students in its charge and is liable for foreseeable injuries proximately related to its failure to provide adequate supervision," Flug wrote.