Mother's lawsuit says her son endured years of bullying, threats at Smithtown schools

The mother of a 15-year-old former Smithtown student, who says her son endured years of abuse because of his sexuality and gender identity, has filed a federal lawsuit against the town's school district and seven of its employees.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court in Central Islip, contends that Michael Coppola was relentlessly bullied while attending Smithtown public schools from fourth through ninth grade, enduring physical abuse, death threats and homophobic taunts that left him suffering from depression, declining grades and an eating disorder.

Diane Coppola said she brought the “living nightmare” of abuse her son was going through to the attention of school officials on multiple occasions over a six-year span, but that her efforts were met with indifference by teachers and administrators who failed to take action to protect Michael.

Smithtown schools Superintendent Mark Secaur declined to comment, citing the pending litigation, while a law firm for the district was not listed in court records.

The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, cites allegations of unlawful discrimination, negligence and violations of the state's human rights and civil rights laws.

“Emotionally, it's destroyed my family,” Diane Coppola said Monday. “We've spent six years fighting the district; asking for help. When Michael comes home, we're left with picking up the pieces to put him back together; to find something that makes him happy.”

Michael Coppola said he uses "he" and "him" pronouns and identifies as male. He said the abuse has taken a toll on his mental and physical health.

“It's affected me physically,” said Michael, a stage performer who now attends a private school 90 minutes from his Smithtown home. “I have trouble eating. The whole thing has affected me physically, mentally and socially.”

Before Michael started fourth grade at Mt. Pleasant Elementary School, his mother and father, also named Michael, met with administrators to ask that no “boy/girl” lines be used by teachers to differentiate students so that he would not have to endure the embarrassment of publicly identifying with a gender that other students could perceive as not conforming with his appearance, the lawsuit states.

But on his first day, Michael's teacher separated the class into separate lines for “boys” and “girls,” sparking students to laugh at him when he joined the girls’ line, the lawsuit said. 

In 2018, the Coppolas filed their first formal complaint under the state’s Dignity for All Students Act after a student, identified in the lawsuit as T.D., threatened to strangle Michael.

The parents would file seven subsequent DASA complaints as the bullying intensified, the lawsuit says, with students pushing and shoving Michael, tampering with his food, directing homophobic profanities at him and starting an “I hate Michael” club.

Even after switching schools, Michael said he continued to suffer discrimination, including from an orchestra teacher who shamed him for wearing heeled shoes to a violin concert and a music teacher who discouraged him from auditioning for a traditionally female role in a school play. After each instance, the lawsuit states, the district did little to protect Michael or to create a safe learning environment for him.

Over the years, Michael skipped field days, a year-end dance, his eighth-grade graduation and weeks of class as he dealt with the mental anguish of the abuse, the suit states.

Eventually, the Coppolas pulled Michael from the district.

“This is about a breakdown in the very basic responsibilities that adults in a school community have to the children who they're in charge of taking care of,” said David Lebowitz, one of Michael's Manhattan-based attorneys. “What that means is that when a student is struggling; when a student is being targeted, harassed, assaulted based on their identity, that you protect the student.”