The family of Tyler Clementi, the Rutgers University freshman who committed suicide, has made a decision not to sue the school or the man involved in the case. Clementi committed suicide after a video of him with a man was posted on the internet. The video was secretly recorded by his roommate.
After Clementi jumped off the George Washington Bridge in September of 2010, his parents Joseph and Jane Clementi filed documents in court that reserved the right for them to sue. The roommate, Dharun Ravi, was convicted of invasion of privacy, bias intimidation and witness tampering.
According to the attorney for the family, Clementi’s parents made the decision to drop the idea of a lawsuit so they could focus all of their time with the Tyler Clementi Foundation. The Tyler Clementi Foundation is a nonprofit organization that works with lesbian and gay youths by providing support.
“The family got to a place where they really felt an obligation and desire to use the publicity for positive purposes,” attorney Paul Mainardi said. “The idea of going after money, at this point, seemed small and unimportant.”
Ravi’s sentence was for 30 days in jail, 300 hours of community service and three years of probation. Ravi has already served a portion of his sentence, being released from jail after just 20 days on June 19.
