The State : District Sued in Teen Suicide

The family of a Gilroy teen-ager who killed himself after getting bad grades has filed a $1.5-million claim, alleging that school officials wrongly mailed his report card home. Claims of $501,000 each were filed on behalf of the youth’s mother, father and brother against the Gilroy Unified School District, Monterey attorney Albert Palmer said. If the claims are denied, Palmer said he will file a lawsuit for damages. According to the claim, Mitchell Launier, 14, shot himself in the head with a rifle the day after he received a progress report from the junior high school he attended. Mitchell’s mother, Susan Launier, said the family asked school officials not to send his grades home because he was “very emotional” about his poor scholastic performance. After discussing with his mother a progress report showing that he was earning four Fs and two Ds, Mitchell went outside and shot himself, the claim said.