A mother whose teenage son was driven to suicide by bullies at his elite private school wants her former boss fired from his prestigious new job for allegedly failing to prevent the tragedy or discipline her son’s tormentors.
Rosellen Bronstein, 48, filed a $100 million lawsuit against the Latin School of Chicago and its former principal, Randall Dunn, 57, claiming administrators ignored her son Nate’s plea for help after months of relentless bullying.
After finding out that Dunn would become principal of the prestigious Rye Country Day School in Westchester, New York beginning in July, Bronstein demanded that Dunn be jailed.
The grieving mum said: “I warn all parents at (Rye Country School). This will happen again. Your children will not be protected in this school under Dunn…”
“Dunn doesn’t care about students,” Bronstein told the New York Post. “He takes care of himself and his career. He’s a scammer. He is dishonest.’
Dunn made $750,000 a year while at the Latin school and will almost certainly make at least $1 million a year at Rye, with the preschool teacher he’s replacing currently making $1.18 million receives.
Rosellen Bronstein (left) has urged Randall Dunn (right), principal of the Latin School of Chicago, to be fired from his new job at the prestigious Rye Country Day School in Westchester, New York, for allegedly giving her son, who committed suicide, had not helped January
Nate, 15, had hanged himself after months of bullying at school, which began with false rumors being spread about his vaccination. Bronstein claims administrators were aware of the relentless bullying but did nothing to stop it
Heartbroken parents Rosellen and Robert (left) are suing Dunn and the school district for $100 million and want Dunn to stay away from New York students
Rye says it commends Dunn for contacting the Latin School of Chicago for more details on Nate’s suicide and commended Dunn as an experienced and caring educator.
A spokesperson told the Post: “Student safety is of the utmost importance to the RCDS Board of Trustees, which is made up almost entirely of current parents.
“A Board of Trustees has examined the details of this tragic case and found no evidence to support the aggressive allegations against Mr Dunn or raise safety concerns for the RCDS community.
‘Mister. Dunn has an exemplary 30-year track record as a compassionate and ethical educator and we look forward to him joining RCDS.’
Nate, 15, hanged himself in January after months of bullying that his parents said was partly sparked by a false rumor that he had not been vaccinated, according to court documents.
The lawsuit further addressed incidents that stemmed from the rumors, such as when Nate was approached by students at school on two separate occasions, with both students asking him if his parents were “anti-vaccination.”
Nate’s parents contacted the school to resolve the matter, which only made matters worse because it resulted in ongoing harassment of the 15-year-old boy.
Another incident detailed in the lawsuit alleges that Latin school geometry teacher Andrew Sanchez relentlessly approached Nate in front of the entire class in October or November, telling the class that Nate was “going nowhere in life.”
Bronstein said she was afraid that what happened to Nate would happen to the students at Rye Country School if Dunn were in charge.
The Latin School of Chicago has dismissed Bronstein’s claims and said they too are saddened by Nate’s suicide.
“The school’s faculty and staff are compassionate people who put students’ interests first, as they did in this case,” the school said in a statement after the lawsuit was originally filed in April.
“While we will not comment on any specific allegations regarding this difficult matter at this time, the school, its faculty and staff will vigorously defend themselves against these baseless allegations.”
The school management could not immediately be reached for comment.
Nate had been repeatedly taunted by his fellow students for false rumors that he was unvaccinated and that his parents were “anti-vaccination.” Bronstein also claimed Nate was humiliated in front of his class by a teacher who allegedly said the teen had no direction in life
Nate was still adjusting when he transferred to the Latin School of Chicago, an elite $55,000-a-year private school last fall (pictured).
Bronstein told the Post that if someone else was in charge, she genuinely believes her son would still be alive today, and claimed Dunn and his government are more concerned with enforcing the “wake” policy than their white man to help son.
“They spent more time yelling at my son for covering his nose with that damn mask than teaching the kids to be inclusive and kind, thoughtful and caring,” she said.
“They are very focused on theirs [Diversity, Equity and Inclusion] stuff and all their progressive bulls – t,” she added.
“I can assure you that if my son had been black and this had happened, it would have been handled very differently. But my son was a white Jewish child.”
Bronstein’s lawsuit also describes text threats and Snapchat messages exchanged between Nate and classmates, one encouraging Nate to kill himself and another being understood as an indirect death threat.
Bronstein (left) claimed Dunn and his government were more concerned with enforcing the “Wake” policy than helping their white son
On December 13, 2021, Nate met with the dean of students to report the bullying, but the dean took no disciplinary action against a student. Nate’s account was also withheld from his parents, the lawsuit alleges.
The Bronsteins told CBS News they were never told Nate requested a meeting with his dean of college to report the harassment.
“It had been withheld from us, so we were totally surprised when that happened,” said Robert Bronstein.
According to the Public Act of the Illinois General Assembly, every school in the state, including private schools, is required to have an anti-bullying policy.
This policy must include information on how bullying should be reported and how it should be investigated, and also that incidents of bullying should be reported to the parents of those affected.
The family insists they are not suing Latin for the money. Instead, they have pledged to donate any money won through court cases to anti-bullying and anti-suicide charities – with the goal of helping others in similar situations.