Fifteen-year-old Nathan Bruno, a student at Portsmouth (Rhode Island) High School, committed suicide on February 7, 2018. The Portsmouth School Committee commissioned an independent investigation by an attorney, whose report was released in June 2019. A newspaper article provides an excellent, detailed summary of the 63-page report. I recommend it to any reader wants a clear picture of the chain of events that led to Nathan’s death. A very short summary of the facts concludes as follows: “Mr. Bruno [father of Nathan] contends that Head Football Coach Ryan Moniz, Principal Joseph Amaral and Athletic Director Steven Trezvant intentionally or unintentionally placed an undue amount of mental and emotional stress upon his son in the weeks and days leading up to his tragic death causing the 15-year-old Nathan to feel isolated, shamed and bullied to the point where his only escape from the pressure was to end his life.”
Nathan’s parents, represented by Providence attorneys John Foley and Peter Cerilli, brought suit against the above-named individuals and others. On October 23, 2024, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiffs and awarded damages in the amount of $3.1 million, which amounts to $5.4 million with prejudgment interest added. https://www.golocalprov.com/news/Jury-Awards-5.4M-to-Family-of-Portsmouth-High-School-Athlete-Who-Committed.
The plaintiffs’ chief expert witness was suicidologist Barry N. Feldman, PhD, who was referred to attorneys Foley and Cerilli by Vident Partners. Dr. Feldman is a nationally recognized educator, trainer, researcher, and clinical expert in the field of suicide intervention and prevention. He specializes in suicide-related training, critical incident response, and crisis stabilization services for schools, military, law enforcement, emergency medical responders, healthcare providers, veterinary medical practitioners, and other professionals. Full details of his qualifications and experience are at https://www.videntpartners.com/blog/2023/dr-barry-feldman-suicide-prevention-intervention-and-postvention-expert. He has written three posts for our blog: https://www.videntpartners.com/blog/2023/youth-suicide-prevention-and-competent-school-community, https://www.videntpartners.com/blog/2023/suicide-intervention-schools, and https://www.videntpartners.com/blog/2023/suicide-postvention-schools-addressing-aftermath.
Dr. Feldman provides consultation and expert witness testimony to both plaintiff and defense attorneys in litigation related to his area of expertise. This work is driven by his desire to help ensure best practices for assessment, treatment and care delivered to individuals who may be at-risk for suicide, and thereby to prevent more families and friends from joining the ranks of suicide loss survivors. Please contact us if you are interested in scheduling a call with Dr. Feldman.
