BRUNSWICK

Those involved in a case against the Brunswick School District over a former student who claimed he was bullied, harassed and assaulted by other students will try to settle out of court.

Maine Human Rights Commission counsel Barbara Archer Hirsch said that the commission, the school district, and the student’s family have entered into a tolling agreement.

“This means that they have agreed that any legal defenses-time limits are suspended, until the agreement is revoked,” Archer Hirsch wrote in an email to The Times Record on Wednesday. “The tolling agreement in this case is specifically for the purpose of ‘allowing the parties to pursue a possible settlement without the need for court proceedings.’”

The commission still has the option of filing a lawsuit if a settlement isn’t reached.

It was announced last month that the commission would sue the district on behalf of the public interest in order to remedy dis- crimination and improve policies in the schools. That decision came after the commission’s conciliation process failed in October. However, the suit was not filed.

“I was not a party to the conciliation process, but it is time-limited (90 days), and it’s not uncommon for conciliation to fail due to time constraints, but for the parties to continue to pursue settlement, or to decide to try again after a little time has passed,” wrote Archer Hirsch.

Even though conciliation failed, Archer Hirsch stated that a settlement may allow both parties “to dedicate resources to settlement and possible resolution, rather than to the time and expense of litigation.”

The MHRC agreed last summer that there were reasonable grounds to believe discrimination occurred in Brunswick Junior High School against a student between August 2010 and August 2012.

The student’s mother claims her son was subjected to repeated instances of bullying and harassment due to his “perceived sexual orientation” that went to such extremes that the boy became suicidal, according to the commission’s investigator’s report.

The student began attending another school in 2013.

THE MAINE HUMAN RIGHTS Commission agreed last summer that there were reasonable grounds to believe discrimination occurred in Brunswick Junior High School against a student between August 2010 and August 2012.

THE STUDENT’S MOTHER claims her son was subjected to repeated instances of bullying and harassment due to his “perceived sexual orientation” that went to such extremes that the boy became suicidal.