The family of a New Jersey teenager who died by suicide in February 2023 has filed a lawsuit against school officials for failing to properly address school-wide bullying that would eventually lead to her death.

The lawsuit was filed in the Superior Court of New Jersey in Orange County and names the former district superintendent, Triantafillos Parlapanides, the Central Regional Board of Education, and others as plaintiffs.

Adriana was a 14-year-old freshman at Central Regional High School in the Berkeley Township of the Jersey Shore when her parents say she experienced tormenting bullying that led to her death.

On February 1, 2023, she was brutally attacked by classmates in the hallway of her High School. A video of the attack was posted online and went viral as it circulated among students and others. Two days later, Adriana took her own life. Through their lawyer, Adriana's family maintained that the assault and the video “led to her public humiliation and ultimate suicide.”

Shortly after Adriana’s death, school officials’ handling of her assault —and bullying as a whole throughout the district— was scrutinized, leading to student walkouts from Central Regional High School. Mounting pressure against the school district would eventually lead district superintendent Parlapanides to resign from his post.

The lawsuit alleges that the defendants knew about the “culture of violence” at Central Regional High School but acted negligently by failing to take appropriate action to protect Adriana. The family says school officials knew about the dangers that Adriana’s attackers posed to “fellow students, including Adriana Kuch, and they would harass, intimidate, and bully in the form of physical assaults within the hallways of Central Regional High School.”

In failing to stop her attackers and properly address school-wide bullying, the family says the defendants violated the New Jersey Anti-Bullying Statute. Among the violations was the failure to supervise, monitor, and train staff on bullying, harassment, and intimidation behaviors.

The complaint also alleges the defendants invaded Adriana’s privacy and violated the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a federal law that restricts access to a student's school and academic records.

The FERPA claim is targeted at Parlapanides as the lawsuit maintains he shared information about Adriana’s health and wellness to reporters days after her death. The statements Parlapanides shared with reporters included details that would ultimately defame Adriana’ mourning father.

Parlapanides used his school email account to email reports that “Adriana’s mother killed herself because Michael Kuch, Sr., was having an affair when Adriana was in 6th grade” and that “a year later, Michael Kuch, Sr., married the woman he had an affair with and moved her into the family home…as a result, in 7th and 8th grade Adriana started making bad choices and using drugs.” The lawsuit says Parlapanides’s statements were “false light, and/or he acted with reckless disregard for the truth.”

The family’s lawyer, William Krais, shared, "Michael Kuch and his family have experienced so much heartache and tragedy already, and the gross negligence of school officials – followed by the superintendent’s cruel, insensitive, and defamatory remarks – only compound their pain."

Krais maintains it is “the school that has to be held accountable,” adding, "and it's the school that has to take responsibility for its failings. Adriana Kuch didn't take her life because of TikTok. Adriana Kuch took her life, because she was physically attacked. She was attacked online. And the school failed to protect her."

The lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages including punitive damages and is asking for a trial by jury.