Redmond School District offices

The family of a 12-year-old girl who died by suicide in 2017 has sued the Redmond School District, alleging it was negligent in allowing her to be bullied ruthlessly in her last year of life.

Maranda Riboli, mother of Brooklyn Marie Brehm, originally filed her lawsuit in federal district court in 2019, naming as defendants the girl’s English teacher at Elton Gregory Middle School and the classmate said to have regularly and frequently harassed Brooklyn at school.

Last month, U.S. District Judge Michael McShane dismissed all but one of Riboli’s claims. The judge ruled the remaining claim, negligence, would have to be pursued in state court.

On Tuesday in Deschutes County Circuit Court, Riboli filed a $700,000 lawsuit

naming only the Redmond School District as a

defendant.

A district spokesperson declined to comment, citing a policy against discussing pending litigation.

According to the federal lawsuit, when Brooklyn started middle school at Elton Gregory in the fall of 2016, she had a positive attitude and loved school.

But throughout the 2016-2017 school year, a boy in her sixth-grade class shamed her for her weight, called her names like “hungry hungry hippo” and ridiculed her for having a crush on a boy he said would never like her because of her weight, according to court documents.

He told her she should kill herself because she was “a waste of space and no boy would ever like her,” the documents state.

Around December 2016, Brooklyn told her mother about the boy picking on her. Riboli knew the boy’s parents but didn’t talk to them about his behavior at Brooklyn’s request.

Three months later, Brooklyn’s English teacher emailed Riboli to voice concerns about Brooklyn’s declining grades and a change in her classroom behavior. Riboli replied that she too noticed changes in Brooklyn, and that Brooklyn had mentioned she’d had issues with a bully.

Riboli met in-person with the English teacher in February 2017 and they discussed keeping Brooklyn away from the boy.

Around this time, her parents agreed she would live with her father in Sisters and see how she liked school there. She wasn’t happy about the change, according to court documents.

In April 2017, a friend of Brooklyn’s reported to the school counselor noticing cuts on Brooklyn’s arms and a change in her emotions. The counselor called Riboli shortly after and they set up an in-person meeting for mid-April.

On April 17, 2017, before the meeting could occur, Brooklyn died at her home. Her suicide notes and journal refer to feelings of being unwanted, “mean” parents, bullies, boys she had crushes on, and a classmate who told her to go kill herself, according to court records.

According to the 2022 lawsuit, the district failed to supervise its staff and acknowledge reports that Brooklyn was being harassed and had engaged in self-harm.

At the time of Brooklyn’s death, the Redmond School District had several policies on bullying and harassment, and a reporting system for such conduct. When bullying is reported to a teacher, the teacher has discretion in handling it based on severity. The report may be handled in the classroom, reported to the school counselor, or to the school principal for investigation. Additionally, teachers at Elton Gregory undergo various annual trainings on adolescent suicide.

According to court records, between 2015 to 2017, the school documented 75 instances in which the school disciplined students for bullying, harassment, fighting and physical aggression.

On Feb. 2, the federal judge issued his 14-page opinion in the original lawsuit, ruling that because Brooklyn’s family had failed to show gender-based discrimination and deliberate indifference, her federal claims failed.

McShane noted that testimony showed Brooklyn was exposed to drug use and domestic violence in her home life.

“The Court is not suggesting that Brooklyn was not deeply loved by her parents, but the record does amplify the fact that Brooklyn was witness to some trauma and chaos at home,” McShane wrote.

24/7 Crisis Hotline: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Networkwww.suicidepreventionlifeline.org

1-800-273-TALK (8255) (Veterans, press 1)

Crisis Text Line: Text TALK to 741-741 to text with a trained crisis counselor from the Crisis Text Line

Veterans Crisis Line: Send a text to 838255