DAVIS COUNTY, Utah, Nov. 3, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — Utah attorney Tyler Ayers and civil rights lawyer Milton Grimes have announced their intent to sue Davis School District for $14 million in damages on behalf of the family of Isabella “Izzy” Tichenor, an autistic, Black fifth-grader who died by suicide last year.
Ayers and Grimes on Wednesday reportedly filed a required “notice of claim” informing the state of their intent to sue. Defendants will reportedly include Davis Schools, Foxboro Elementary School and more than a dozen administrators and staff members.
Ayers said he intends to formally file the lawsuit by the end of November.
Izzy was 10 on Nov. 6, 2021, when she died as a result of suicide. Her mother, Brittany Tichenor-Cox, has maintained her suicide was prompted by bullying and Foxboro Elementary students’ and staff members’ negative reactions to Izzy’s race and disability.
The Davis School District promised an investigation following Izzy’s death. According to the district, the investigation found that Izzy was told by classmates and teachers that she smelled bad and she needed to bathe, but it found no “direct evidence” that she had been bullied because of her race or her autism.
District reaction to pending lawsuit
The Davis School District on Wednesday released a statement on the pending lawsuit.
“The Davis School District sends its sincere, heartfelt condolences to the family of Izzy Tichenor,” it says. “As we approach the anniversary of her passing, we are mindful of the impact she’s left on the community. We love Izzy and our focus and energy remain devoted to providing a safe and welcoming environment for all students.
“We appreciate the interest on the case, but until we carefully review it and confer with legal counsel, our district will not be able to comment further.”
Previous legal action
This is not the first time the Davis School District has been accused of systemic racism.
In October 2021, the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and the United States Attorney’s Office for Utah announced a settlement agreement with Utah’s Davis School District to address race discrimination in the schools. DOJ investigators found “serious and widespread racial harassment of Black and Asian-American students,” the DOJ said at the time.
The investigation was opened in July 2019 under Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and revealed the district’s “persistent failures to respond to reports of race-based harassment of Black and Asian-American students by district staff and other students,” the DOJ statement said. “The department’s review, which focused on 2015-2020, found hundreds of documented uses of the N-word, among other racial epithets, derogatory racial comments, and physical assaults targeting district students at dozens of schools.
The Davis School District acknowledged the DOJ findings, saying “The district takes these findings very seriously. They do not reflect the values of this community and the expectations of the district. The district pledges to correct these practices.”
