N.B. was a 15-year-old student and football player at Portsmouth High School, a public high school in Rhode Island. In December 2017, N.B. and a group of friends, while at a video gaming gathering, sent prank text messages and phone calls to their football coach, Ryan Moniz. The messages mocked the coach’s abilities and included references to wanting him removed from the team. Although the messages were not threatening or violent, Coach Moniz reported them to local law enforcement. The Jamestown Police initiated a criminal investigation and began looking into who had sent the messages.
At the same time, Coach Moniz launched his own personal investigation. He brought the issue to the School administration and began confronting members of the football team, suspecting them of involvement. At several team meetings, he displayed screenshots of the texts, told players he was considering resigning, and said he would only stay on as coach if the culprits identified themselves. While Moniz never publicly named N.B. as the source of the prank, several teammates inferred his involvement and began distancing themselves from him.
N.B. was eventually pulled from class and interviewed by the assistant principal and school resource officer. He admitted to sending the texts but refused to name others involved. He was suspended for three days. Upon his return, he learned that Coach Moniz would not accept his apology unless he named the other students. N.B. reportedly felt humiliated and increasingly isolated, as his friends avoided him, and he was excluded from team activities. On February 6, 2018, after another difficult day during which he again tried unsuccessfully to repair relationships, N.B. died by suicide at home. He left no note and had no known history of mental illness or suicidal ideation.
Richard Bruno, N.B.’s father, brought suit against multiple parties, including Coach Moniz, the principal, the assistant principal, and the Town of Portsmouth. He alleged that their mishandling of the situation and the School’s failure to deescalate or support N.B. directly contributed to his son’s death. The case proceeded to trial against Coach Moniz only.
Bruno pursued a wrongful death claim under Rhode Island law, relying on the “uncontrollable impulse” theory. Under this doctrine, which is recognized in Rhode Island, a defendant may be held liable for a suicide if their negligent conduct caused the decedent to suffer such extreme emotional distress or mental illness that they lost the capacity to resist the suicidal impulse. This exception to the general rule (i.e., that suicide breaks the chain of causation) does not require the plaintiff to prove that the suicide was foreseeable, as it focuses instead on the defendant’s role in creating the emotional or mental condition that led to the act.
The complaint alleged that Coach Moniz breached his duty of care by aggressively investigating the prank messages in a manner that humiliated and isolated N.B., rather than referring the matter fully to administrators or police. It further claimed that Moniz applied pressure on N.B. to betray his friends, refused to accept his apology, and escalated the emotional intensity of the situation, despite knowing that N.B. was a minor. The plaintiff’s theory was that Moniz’s actions cumulatively caused N.B. to enter a psychological state that led to his suicide.
At trial, the plaintiff presented expert testimony from a nationally recognized suicidologist, who explained that N.B.’s experience on February 6, 2018, created a state of “psychache,” a term used in suicidology to describe overwhelming psychological pain. According to the expert, the accumulation of stressors, social rejection, public humiliation, perceived loss of honor, and continued emotional pressure, combined to create a mental state in which N.B. was no longer capable of rational decision-making. Several of N.B.’s classmates also testified that they believed he felt cornered and socially destroyed by the way the situation was handled.
The defense argued that Coach Moniz acted within the scope of his duties as a coach and teacher and had no intention of harming N.B. The defense maintained that Moniz never publicly named N.B. and had simply sought accountability in a situation involving anonymous messages. They also presented testimony from a psychiatrist who stated that N.B.’s suicide could not be causally linked to a single event and pointed to other factors in N.B.’s life, such as academic struggles and his strained relationship with his mother, as more likely contributors.
The jury found in favor of the plaintiff. The final judgment totaled $5.7 million.
In post-trial motions, the defense argued that the jury’s verdict was against the weight of the evidence and that no reasonable jury could have found Coach Moniz’s conduct to be the proximate cause of N.B.’s suicide. The Court rejected these arguments. It held that the uncontrollable impulse theory does not require foreseeability, and that sufficient evidence had been presented to allow the jury to find that Moniz’s actions directly contributed to N.B.’s emotional collapse. The Court credited the plaintiff’s expert testimony on psychache, as well as the testimony of N.B.’s friends and father, as adequate to support the jury’s conclusions.
The Court also ruled that the Town of Portsmouth could be held liable. Although the jury had not specifically found against the Town, the Court held that Coach Moniz was acting within the scope of his employment and that the Town had judicially admitted agency in its pleadings.
Bruno v. Mills (Super.Ct. June 20, 2025) 2025 R.I.Super.LEXIS 53.
Note: This case highlights how a sequence of decisions, especially in emotionally charged situations, can have serious legal and human consequences.