What happened to Julia Pernsteiner? Family sues school and former coach as Florida runner takes her own life

More than a year after her death, the parents of Julia Pernsteiner are suing the university and its former cross-country coach, Ronald Grigg, who allegedly belittled their daughter's learning disabilities and drove her to take her own life.

Trigger warning: This article contains mentions of suicide. Readers' discretion is advised.

In November 2021, Julia Pernsteiner, a 23-year-old Jacksonville University student-athlete who was cut from the squad two months prior, committed suicide.

Pernsteiner reportedly suffers from a learning disability that impacts her reading and writing. The institution was impliedly complicit in permitting the team's coach, Ron Grigg, to regularly criticize their daughter's academic failures and frequently referred to her as "retarded" in front of the team, according to the lawsuit filed on February 3, 2023.

The suit also claimed that the university failed to provide a learning environment conducive to their daughter’s disability despite agreeing to do so while recruiting her to the cross-country team.

According to the lawsuit, Pernsteiner turned to her favorite sport for solace when her grades started to falter until she was removed from the squad a month before she committed suicide.

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Details of Julia Pernsteiner's wrongful death lawsuit explored

Julia Pernsteiner, a competitive runner, was reportedly recruited by Jacksonville University coach Ronald Grigg as a transfer student and ran for the school’s track team. The lawsuit stated that the university offered an attractive recruitment proposal that said Pernsteiner would receive academic provisions for her disability under the university’s 504 plan.

However, the university allegedly failed to implement the accommodations promised to the student, and as a result, she began to struggle academically.

The lawsuit claimed that Grigg took immense pleasure in tormenting Pernsteiner on her disability, which was corroborated by the other team members. The lawsuit stated:

“Teammates recall Grigg taking a special satisfaction in humiliating Julia, referring to her as ‘retarded,’ the slowest f—— runner on the team’ and unable to ‘wipe your own a–,” the suit claims. “Julia, already struggling academically, now found that the sport she loved and found comfort in was the source of her coach’s targeted ridicule and harassment.”

The lawsuit also stated that the coach had a penchant for humiliating female athletes for their weight and often fat-shamed them, which fostered a toxic environment where students developed eating disorders.

The lawsuit alleged that multiple people stated that the university was aware of Grigg’s misconduct but rallied around the coach, ignoring the plight of the students.

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The lawsuit alleges that the university ignored Julia Pernsteiner’s cry for help

The lawsuit stated that the university ignored Julia Pernsteiner’s repeated pleas for help. The document cited an email sent to the university by the victim a month before the suicide, in which she implored them to provide her with tools to cope with the mounting pressure.

As per the New York Post, the lawsuit stated that a month after she was taken off the track team, Pernsteiner emailed the university’s athletic director, Alex Ricker-Gilbert, seeking advice.

“I just don’t know where to go from here,” the email says. “I rely on the athletic academic help to do well. I would like to stay and work on improving my grades. I just am not able to do it myself. I’m looking for advice on how to proceed.”

The lawsuit revealed that the email reportedly went unanswered, and Pernsteiner took her own life.

After receiving numerous complaints concerning his behavior towards female athletes, university coach Ronald Grigg reportedly resigned in June 2022.