By THOMAS GRILLO
LYNN — The Massachusetts Appeals Court affirmed a lower court decision to dismiss a $35 million lawsuit against the city.
The unanimous ruling ends a nine-year battle between a former student and the school department. It began in 2008 when then 11-year-old Matthew Mumbauer, a student at the Brickett Elementary School, suffered a paralyzing spinal injury that left him a quadriplegic.
In 2011, his parents, James Mumbauer and Alyssa Cormier, filed suit in Essex Superior Court alleging Matthew was injured when he was pushed down a flight of stairs by another student. The complaint also alleged the staff of the elementary school was aware that their son had been the victim of frequent bullying by students and failed to take action.
But the city presented evidence that careful records had been kept of instances of bullying and not a single incident where Matthew had been a victim.
In his motion to dismiss the lawsuit, James Lamanna, the city’s attorney, argued that Debra Ruggiero, former Brickett principal, documented reports of bullying in the school and said a review of those reports turned up no complaints or reports concerning Mumbauer.
In addition, the city argued that no one witnessed the alleged incident on the stairs and the boy never reported it to school authorities.
In 2015, Superior Court Justice Robert Tochka dismissed the case. While he did not minimize the harmful consequences of school bullying, he wrote that no facts were presented in court to prove Matthew was bullied.
“Nor are there any facts demonstrating that the Lynn School District or its employees failed to take appropriate action to remedy this bully, if it did exist,” Tochka wrote in the order.
Following the decision by Superior Court, the family appealed to the appellate court, which rejected the appeal last week.
Lamanna said the city is pleased with the most recent decision.
“The injuries were tragic, but we had reason to believe they did not happen in school, that it actually occurred at home,” he said. “Witnesses said Matthew and his brother were playing when the it happened. And there was absolutely no evidence that he was bullied.”
Susan Bochnak, the family’s attorney, did not return a call seeking comment.
Thomas Grillo can be reached at tgrillo@itemlive.com.