Middletown School District Responds To Jocelyn Walters Lawsuit

MIDDLETOWN, NJ —Last June, the Middletown school district submitted a legal response to the wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the parents of Jocelyn Walters, the 14-year-old Middletown girl who took her own life on Sept. 9, 2022.

The Walters say the principal and two guidance counselors at Middletown High School North were aware their daughter was being bullied, and they failed to take action. The parents said they showed the principal, then Patricia Vari-Cartier, text and social media messages from other girls saying mean things to their daughter.

The girls cropped Jocelyn out of photos. They told Jocelyn's boyfriend to break up with her — or else he wouldn't have any friends, the girls warned. Private things Jocelyn had shared with her friends started appearing on a notorious social media page called "MHSN (Middletown High School North) Clowns," which has since been taken down.

In legal statements, the Middletown school district admitted it investigated multiple HIB (harassment, intimidation and bullying) reports filed between this group of girls — but found them all unfounded.

"Jocelyn’s tragic death followed instances of conflict between Jocelyn and various peers," said the district in a legal response. "Complaints were made on behalf of Jocelyn and K.W. by their parents, as an HIB complaint was made on behalf of another student against K.W. All of these complaints were appropriately investigated and addressed."

The district also said:

"Jocelyn, K.W., and other students allegedly engaged in online harassment against each other and that the district, when those instances were brought to its attention, investigated and addressed them appropriately ... The district attempted to work with the parents to address their concerns. The plaintiffs and other parents and students filed HIB complaints against each other; the district investigated and addressed those complaints appropriately."

"The Middletown School District enacted and implemented an appropriate anti-bullying policy ... The defendants appropriately responded to all HIB complaints ... Admitted insofar as Jocelyn, K.W., and other students allegedly engaged in online harassment against each other and that the district, when those instances were brought to its attention, investigated and addressed them appropriately. Otherwise denied."

The Middletown school district is also trying to prevent economic damages from being paid to the Walters family.

The district argues the family is not entitled to any economic pay-out. In 2023, the parents of Mallory Grossman received a $9.1-million settlement from the Rockaway Township school district after their daughter, 12, died of a suicide.

Mallory's parents say she was bullied in text, cyber messages and in school. They say Copeland Middle School administrators were aware the bullying was going on, and did not do enough to prevent their daughter’s death.

Fred Walters said he has been talking to Grossman's parents; Grossman's mother called him Tuesday morning.

NJ.com did a long interview with Walters' parents, and published the story Tuesday.

“The school did nothing but attempt to defend itself,” Walters told the NJ.com reporter. It “never defended my children.”

Family Of Bullied Middletown Teen Girl Seeks Gag Order In Lawsuit (Tuesday)

Initial Patch report: Parents Of Bullied Girl Who Died By Suicide Sue Middletown District (June 2024)

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