For months, her parents say, Mallory Grossman was tormented by texts, Instagram posts and Snapchat messages from classmates.

"When are you going to kill yourself," bullies allegedly asked the 12-year-old. On June 14, 2017, she did.

Just over a year after their daughter's suicide, Grossman's parents on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the Rockaway Township Board of Education and the township itself, alleging Copeland Middle School failed to take any significant action regarding the bullying despite the family's repeated complaints.

The lawsuit, which names a variety of school personnel as individual defendants, also alleges the township failed in its responsibility to ensure the safety of children in local schools.

Mallory Grossman

Messages left with the school district's offices Tuesday, including for Superintendent Greg McGann -- named as an individual defendant in the lawsuit -- were not immediately returned.

Rockaway's township attorney, John Iaciofano, on Wednesday told NJ Advance Media the township had not yet been served with the complaint.

Iaciofano, who said he believed the township "is in a considerably different position than the school district," indicated the matter would be forwarded to Rockaway's insurance carrier.

Dianne and Seth Grossman are represented by attorney Bruce Nagel, of Nagel Rice in Roseland, a high-profile civil litigator well-known for securing multimillion dollar jury awards and settlements.

Addressing reporters at his office Tuesday afternoon, flanked by the Grossmans, Nagel said he believed the lawsuit was the first filed in response to a cyber-bullying suicide in New Jersey.

Nagel said Mallory Grossman took her life "after the repeated pleas of her parents went unheeded."

The family alleges the school failed to implement policies to comply with the state's anti-bullying statute, and that officials advised them not to file a formal complaint under the law.

Instead, the complaint states, school officials suggested Mallory eat lunch in a guidance office instead of the lunchroom to avoid her harassers, whom she was forced to hug in an apparent attempt at reconciliation.

"The school had a very basic obligation: to keep (its) young students safe," Nagel said.

The Grossmans' first announced their intent to sue the school district in July 2017. Under state law, notice of a civil claim against a public entity must be given at least six months before the actual complaint is filed.

"At this stage, we have not brought a lawsuit against the four families whose children bullied Mallory," Nagel said, adding that those families have nonetheless been put on notice for possible legal action.

In the year since her daughter's death, Dianne Grossman has become a devoted anti-bullying advocate, leading a group called "Mallory's Army."

Dianne and Seth Grossman

Speaking to reporters, she said it was impossible to recover from experience of losing a child to suicide. "It changes your DNA," she said.

"The good news," Grossman said, "is we have an amazing amount of community support."

The township's Board of Education has previously called the Grossmans' allegations "categorically false," but declined to elaborate Tuesday, citing an ongoing investigation by the Morris County Prosecutor's Office.

Nagel on Tuesday said the family has not received notice as to the status of that investigation.

In the wake of the controversy over Mallory Grossman's death, McGann in January announced he would resign from his position on July 1, a day after his three-year contract with the district expires.

The complaint, filed in state Superior Court in Morris County, seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages to be determined by the court.

Note: This story has been updated with comment from Rockaway's township attorney.

Alex Napoliello contributed to this report.

For more information on suicide prevention, visit the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention's website or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

Thomas Moriarty may be reached at tmoriarty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ThomasDMoriarty.

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