In recent news, the parents of a college runner with disabilities who committed suicide, 23-year-old student Julia Pernsteiner, filed a wrongful death lawsuit claiming the coach bullied the students.

The Case: Ray and Lynne Pernsteiner v. Jacksonville University

The Court: Fourth Judicial Circuit, Duval County

The Case No.: 166080988

The Plaintiff: Ray and Lynne Pernsteiner v. Jacksonville University

The plaintiffs in the case are the parents of a 23-year-old disabled Division I runner and student at Jacksonville University (JU) in Florida. In 2021, after being cut from the school’s cross-country team, Julia Pernsteiner died by suicide. On Feb. 3, 2023, Julia’s parents filed a lawsuit alleging the school allowed the team’s coach to bully and berate the students on the team and failed to implement necessary accommodations for student success. The Pernsteiners claim that the coach and the school drove their daughter to suicide by subjecting her to a toxic coach and denying her the academic accommodations they promised to enable her success.

The Defendant: Ray and Lynne Pernsteiner v. Jacksonville University

The defendant in the case is Jacksonville University. According to the parents of Julia Pernsteiner, the university’s coach bullied the team and created an oppressive atmosphere full of intimidation and humiliation. They also claim that he belittled, disparaged, and ridiculed runners that fell short of his standards.

The Case: Ray and Lynne Pernsteiner v. Jacksonville University

In Ray and Lynne Pernsteiner v. Jacksonville University, the plaintiffs claim that despite agreeing to do so in Julia Pernsteiner’s 504 plan, JU did not provide a scribe, reader, professors’ notes, or assistive technology to support her success and never contacted her parents with updates on her progress as promised. Additionally, Julia’s parents claim that the oppressive, intimidating atmosphere the university allowed the coach to create was the catalyst that caused their daughter’s death. Other students backed up the claims and pointed out other inappropriate behavior by the university women’s cross-country team coach. One student even claimed she reported the coach’s behavior twice, but the school had no response.

If you have questions about how to file a California wrongful death lawsuit, please get in touch with Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik DeBlouw LLP. Experienced wrongful death attorneys are ready to assist you in various law firm offices in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside, and Chicago.