A newly-filed lawsuit claims that Edgewood Academy is directly responsible for the death of one of its students.ELMORE, Ala. - John Nichols is suing Edgewood Academy, as well as current Headmaster Susan Barner and former Headmaster Jay Adams, for the 2022 death of his son, Brad Nichols.
Nichols’s lawsuit accuses the school of not doing enough to stop bullying against his son, who took his own life on March 10, 2022. The suit, filed on Friday in the Circuit Court of Elmore County, accuses the academy of knowing “that it had a serious bullying problem” and claiming that “his case involves truly tragic circumstances and systemic failures by Defendants which allowed, encouraged, failed to prevent, and failed to stop incessant bullying which led to the death of Bradley David Nichols.”
Nichol’s suit says that his son “was a loving 16 year old teenager with a huge heart to match his size,” noting that the 6 foot, 270 pound ninth grader “was also an emotionally complex 16 year old with a slight speech impediment.” The suit further states that “ven though many viewed Brad as a strong young man and a potential college student-athlete, his gentle nature and speech disorder made him more susceptible to harassment and bullying by his peers.
The boy was bullied because of his weight and speech impediment, his father claims, adding that other students “set ring tones to go off so they could make fun of Brad in unison,” and that some students created a social media video after his death titled “The Lynching of John Nichols.”When reached Monday to see if the school or school board would discuss the lawsuit, Barner said Edgewood had no comment.