GREENFIELD, Indiana — The parents of a 10-year-old Greenfield boy who died by suicide after they said he faced relentless bullying have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Greenfield-Central Schools.
Fourth-grader Sammy Teusch was found dead by suicide in his bedroom May 5, 2024. On Dec. 17, his parents Sam and Nicole Teusch filed the lawsuit in Hancock County Court against the Greenfield-Central Community School Corporation and its board of trustees, requesting a jury trial.
In a press release, lawyers for the parents say that in the suit they describe "the abuse, assault, and terror their young son went through at the hands of school bullies, and how the school failed to protect their son."
“Sammy’s abusers urged him to hang himself; they chased him, stalked him, punched him, choked him – all while school officials for months callously dismissed and disregarded Sammy’s pleas for protection,” Brian Grossman, co-counsel for the Teusch family, said in a statement. “This suit is about more than holding the Greenfield School Corporation accountable, it’s about making sure no child ever experiences what Sammy experienced – and no family again experiences the heartbreak the Teusch family can now never escape.”
The lawsuit names district superintendent Dr. Harold Olin by name, along with five district employees who it alleges "were repeatedly informed about the bullying of Sammy Teusch by students under the District's supervision, and yet did nothing to address it."
"As a direct and proximate result of the District's and these individuals' gross dereliction of arguably their most important duty, Sammy took his own life," the lawsuit says.
The filing details what Sammy's parents allege was months of abuse from a group of his classmates, including one allegedly hitting him with an iPad, breaking his glasses and giving him a black eye, and one allegedly choking him until he "saw stars."
The lawsuit also describes alleged incidents such as a group of students trapping Sammy in a bathroom and threatening him and a student following him around telling him to commit suicide.
Sammy's parents say in the suit they reached out to Greenfield Intermediate School staff "by phone and in person to report the bullying and beg for the protection and safety of their son Sammy." The filing says around 20 reports were made by Sammy's parents to school administrators.
“What we’re doing, with this legal action, is coming from a place of love and protection for all of our kids, because they should all be able to go to school and learn in a safe environment,” Sam Teusch said in a statement. “No parent should have to sit at work and worry if their child is being bullied – or as in Sammy’s case, abused and assaulted – while they are in school all day. And no parent should ever have to find their child like Nicci and I did.”
“Sammy was smart, funny, quick to make friends, knew no strangers, meant no harm to anyone, and had the biggest heart along with the best smile,” Sam Teusch said in the statement. “And it seems that made him an easy target and easy for school officials to dismiss and disregard him – and we can’t let the world be like that.”
Greenfield police previously said their investigation into Sammy's death found there was some bullying taking place in his life. Olin previously said in emails to 13News that "no bullying report was ever submitted by the parents or the student."
Sam Teusch previously told 13News of those messages, "It is a bold face lie, and there's no other way around that."
Greenfield PD Chief Brian Hartman previously told 13News that the parents in no way bullied Sammy. As for if he found the school negligent for not addressing the bullying, Hartman said he did not.
When contacted by 13News Tuesday, Dec. 17, after the lawsuit had been filed, Olin said the district did not have have new comment at this time.
