Annie Wright School (Tacoma, WA) Sued Over Suicide
Richard
ADAM LYNN
The News Tribune
Published: October 7th, 2007 01:00 AM
Drug use. Cultural insensitivity. Suicide. They're not words generally
associated with Annie Wright School, a private school in Tacoma's
North End.
But a Seattle businessman uses them in a lawsuit he filed against the
school on behalf of his wife's daughter, who swallowed a lethal
combination of drugs there earlier this year.
Pio Y. Park sued Annie Wright in Pierce County Superior Court on Sept.
28, contending its "negligent conduct" directly contributed to the
death of 19-year-old Yeon-Jin Choi, who went by "Anna."
The suit also names Jake Guadnola, who works as the assistant director
of Annie Wright's all-girls high school.
Rick Clarke, who heads Annie Wright, has denied that the school was
negligent in its dealings with Choi. Guadnola said he was surprised to
find himself named in the lawsuit. He declined further comment.
Choi died Feb. 7 at Tacoma General Hospital. The Pierce County Medical
Examiner's Office lists her manner of death as suicide, the cause as
"multiple drug toxicity."
Park contends in his suit that school officials mishandled a
disciplinary action against Choi, throwing her into "severe emotional
distress." They then did nothing to protect her from hurting herself,
even though they knew drugs were being used in the dormitory where she
lived on campus, he alleges.
"It was reasonably foreseeable to Annie Wright School that Anna's
emotional distress and humiliation, combined with the unsafe
environment in its dormitory, presented a risk of harm to Anna," the
lawsuit states.
The school and Guadnola failed in their duty to protect Choi, Park
claims.
Park seeks unspecified monetary damages on behalf of Choi's estate.
Clarke, who heads the school, e-mailed a statement last week to The
News Tribune.
"The death of Anna Choi was a tragic loss in every sense of the word,"
Clarke wrote. "We share the grief of the family. We have carefully
reviewed the events surrounding her death and concluded that there was
absolutely no negligence on the part of staff of the school.
"Beyond that, with litigation pending, I can say nothing other than to
express our sorrow to the family."
Choi, a native of South Korea, enrolled at Annie Wright as a junior at
the beginning of the 2005-06 school year, according to the lawsuit.
Park said in court papers that he decided to send Choi to the school
after reading promotional materials that promised "a safe dormitory
environment and 24-hour care for residents."
Park said he advised school officials that Choi came from a difficult
family situation in South Korea and had been the target of "group gang
abuse" in middle school.
During the winter of her senior year, Choi and several other students
with Korean ancestry got into some kind of trouble at the school,
according to the lawsuit.
Park's attorney, Maury Kroontje of Seattle, said he's still awaiting
reports from the school to determine what happened. Clarke declined to
discuss the trouble, citing federal privacy laws that safeguard a
student's school records.
Whatever happened, Choi was called Feb. 5, 2007, into a disciplinary
proceeding that involved her peers and school faculty, according to
the lawsuit. The proceeding was conducted "in a culturally insensitive
manner that caused Anna to suffer severe humiliation and emotional
distress," the lawsuit states.
Park contends he asked to attend the meeting but was "strongly
discouraged" by school officials, so he did not.
Choi was to attend another meeting two days later to learn her
punishment.
Park contends in his lawsuit that he contacted Guadnola the day before
that meeting to report Choi was so humiliated that she couldn't face
her Korean peers on the disciplinary committee. She also had stopped
eating, according to the lawsuit. The next morning, Choi was
hospitalized. She died a few hours later.
A memorial service was held for her at the school Feb. 15, according
to an obituary that ran in The News Tribune. Choi's family asked
people, in lieu of flowers, to make donations to Annie Wright School
in her name.
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/173202.html
Adam Lynn: 253-597-8644
Brad Ferguson
Richard <lcp...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Choi's family asked people, in lieu of flowers, to make donations to
> Annie Wright School in her name.
Eh?
Jimmy Mac
"Brad Ferguson" <thir...@frXOXed.net> wrote in message
news:081020070416469675%thir...@frXOXed.net...
To help fund the expected settlement?
Magnus
> Annie Wright School Sued Over Suicide
>
> ADAM LYNN
> The News Tribune
> Published: October 7th, 2007 01:00 AM
>
> Drug use. Cultural insensitivity. Suicide. They're not words generally
> associated with Annie Wright School, a private school in Tacoma's
> North End.
I'm sad to hear about the troubles at Annie Wright, which seems to
have a long history of success. Here is the wikipedia article on the
school:
.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Wright_School#History
I'm all for boys' schools and girls' schools, and doubt that much is
gained by transforming all of them into co-ed schools, as many want
them to be.
I notice that private schools like Annie Wright get a great deal of
attention when tragic instances of the kind described in the article
take place. And yet one seldom hears of the deaths, drug use, and
violence that can be linked to public schools.
magnus