Parents of Newbury Park High's Katie Meyer sue Stanford U over her on campus suicide this past Mar 1

I don't understand what they claim the university did wrong.

Stanford didn’t do anything. She did.

It’ll end up settling out of court though.

From my understanding the university sent her an email at night and without any warning stating that she was subject to potentially serious punishment, including expulsion. Just seemed like a really clumsy and callous way to handle it, especially when threatening a college age student who might panic or act impulsively. The university has to be more intelligent.

So she received the notification and then killed herself the same evening. That’s not on the university - that’s the action of a mentally unstable person.

These frivolous lawsuits need to end. At the least the jury got one right this week.

usatoday.com

Jury: NCAA not to blame in ex-USC football player Matthew Gee's death

@usatoday

A jury rejected a lawsuit by widow of an ex-USC football player who said NCAA failed to protect him from repeated head trauma that led to his death.

Open link

I'm sure that's what you'd say if it were your child or sibling.

It seems that is what her parents are claiming.

Was it her fault that her teammate was sexually assaulted by a football player?

Was it her fault that the football player couldn't take "spilled coffee"?

It appeared like she did it intentionally. Then, when Stanford disciplined her, she killed herself.

is it her fault she couldn’t take “the punishment”?

“Without any warning”? What kind of warning do you think the university should give? Send a student an email to warn them that a disciplinary email will be coming?

That’s like a pre-trigger warning: “warning - a trigger warning will come up soon”

Colleges and Universities have a history of condoning rapes including gang rapes committed by their football players and teams. I side with the parents on this.

Oh I don't know. How about just not blindsiding a student with a disciplinary notice threatening serious punishment without reaching out to them first and speaking to them directly. Its not rocket science.

Total BS. When I was in college, I got a threatening letter telling me I was on academic probation and would be expelled from the university if I didn’t get my GPA up above 2.0 by the end of the next semester. Nobody spoke to me directly. All I got was the letter. Did I kill myself? No, I took responsibility for my actions, cut back on the partying, spent more time studying, and got my grades up. It’s called resilience. Sadly, kids these days lack it.

I don't particularly think that the university should be held civilly liable, but they certainly didn't handle it in the best way possible. If you are considering expelling a student, that news should be delivered face to face in an actual meeting.

I'm a program director for a medical residency, so dealing with disciplinary action is part of my job (thankfully one that comes up very infrequently). The thought of including "oh, hey, there's a chance we might kick you out of the program, but we'll talk about it later" in an email or letter to one of my residents would simply never cross my mind. The ONLY way that threat gets conveyed to someone is in a face to face meeting, and it would be accompanied by a detailed explanation of exactly how the process would unfold including any potential options to appeal.

Should the university lose a lawsuit? Probably not, at least based on the information we have. Should they be embarrassed for their lack of professionalism in the way they handled the situation? Absolutely.

And I'm sure you would have the same sympathy if it was a football player "thug" who got in trouble.

The tough guy brigade needs to slow their roll. It appears that she spilled/tossed coffee on a football player suspected of sexually assaulting her teammate. Six months go by with no disciplinary hearing or action being taken over the coffee incident. Out of the blue and on the last day that a disciplinary action can be filed, the university e-mails her after hours that she may lose her scholarship and be expelled from one of the finest institutions on the planet. She is blindsided, panics, and, without the ability to speak to a counselor or to someone to explain the charges and process, she spirals and kills herself.

Stanford’s actions were low class and callously casual for such an important potential action. We also don’t know much about the young woman and her mental health leading up to this. It is inappropriate and cruel to label her weak or to fault her family for filing a suit. The court will decide the matter.