Lawsuit allowed in MIT suicide

In a case watched closely by universities across the country, a Middlesex Superior Court judge has ruled that the parents of an MIT student who committed suicide at the college can proceed with their lawsuit against college administrators and staff, a decision some higher education officials say is unusually expansive and alarming.

Judge Christine M. McEvoy ruled that the parents of Elizabeth Shin, who committed suicide in 2000, had grounds to continue with their $27 million lawsuit against Massachusetts Institute of Technology psychiatrists and two administrators who are not mental health professionals.

Nonclinicians are not usually considered responsible for preventing suicide, but McEvoy wrote that, in this case, Shin's housemaster and a student life dean had a ''special relationship" with her, requiring them to protect her, because they ''could reasonably foresee that Elizabeth would hurt herself without proper supervision."

Officials at other universities have followed the Shin case closely, because it raises difficult questions about the responsibility of a university for the behavior of students with mental health problems, who are increasingly likely to attend college as therapy and medications help them control their illnesses. Many educators are worried that they will face costly litigation whenever students commit suicide.

''It seems to be an extraordinary stretch, I'm surprised the judge didn't find the president responsible, too," said Sheldon Steinbach, general counsel of the American Council on Education. ''How far are you going to go? Are the board of trustees liable because they should have known?"

However, McEvoy's June 27 decision was not a total victory for the Shin family. The judge dismissed the claims against the university itself and dismissed some claims against the MIT employees. For example, she said MIT could not be held liable for breach of contract because statements in MIT brochures about mental health services are too vague to constitute an enforceable contract.

The remaining claims against four psychiatrists and two administrators will go to a jury trial. A pretrial conference in scheduled for September. The Shins have also voluntarily dropped claims against several other MIT staff members.

Elizabeth Shin's mental health problems and suicide threats were well known to MIT by the time she set herself on fire in her dorm room on April 10, 2000. She was hospitalized in February 1999, her freshman year, after overdosing on Tylenol with codeine, according to a timeline laid out by the judge. After she was released, she was treated by MIT psychologists and had interactions with administrators on numerous occasions. They were aware of her suicidal thoughts and also her pattern of self-cutting, according to McEvoy.

The day Shin set herself on fire, a group of administrators and psychiatrists discussed her case, including her statements to two students ''that she intended to kill herself that day," wrote the judge, who added that ''it is contested what, if any, treatment options were discussed at the meeting." One psychiatrist made an appointment for Shin for the next day at a psychiatric facility outside MIT.

McEvoy wrote that the Shin family's lawyers had ''put forth sufficient evidence of a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the MIT administrators were grossly negligent in their treatment of Elizabeth," because they didn't enact ''an immediate plan to respond to Elizabeth's escalating threats to commit suicide."

MIT released a written statement saying it was pleased that the charges against the university were dropped, but disappointed about the claims that remain against MIT employees.

''The death of Elizabeth Shin was a tragedy, for this bright young woman, her family and friends, and all those at MIT who tried to help her," the statement said. ''But it was not the fault of MIT or anyone who works at MIT. The Institute will continue its defense of the members of its community who tried to help her."

David DeLuca -- the lawyer for Shin's parents, Cho Hyun Shin and Kisuk Shin -- praised the judge's decision. ''We believe it could have and would have turned out much differently for Elizabeth, had they chosen to respond to a known emergency situation," he said.

McEvoy's ruling is ''very new ground," said Gary Pavela, director of judicial programs at the University of Maryland at College Park and the author of a newsletter for college administrators on law in higher education.

McEvoy cited a federal district court in Virginia that found that Ferrum College officials had a ''special relationship" that gave them a duty to a student who committed suicide.

But that case was ultimately settled out of court. In contrast, the Iowa Supreme Court in 2000 found no such duty toward a suicidal student, Pavela said. State court rulings are not binding on judges in other states, but jurists often look to them, especially if the rulings come from appeals courts.

Pavela said the legal uncertainty is causing a furor among college officials, although he cautioned them not to panic. He said there's a trend on campuses toward forcing students to go on medical leave at the first sign of any suicidal thoughts, in order to avoid legal liability.

But Pavela said that's ethically wrong and illegal, because the Americans with Disabilities Act requires schools to carefully consider the facts in an individual case before sending a student home.

''If administrators overreact to these cases by routinely removing students, then they are jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire," he said.

MIT is facing one other lawsuit involving a student suicide, that of Julie Carpenter, who ingested cyanide in 2001. Her family says MIT is responsible because officials failed to address her harassment by a fellow student.

Much of the public discussion about the Shin case has revolved around whether MIT had a duty to inform her parents that she was suicidal, despite laws protecting students' privacy. McEvoy didn't address that issue in her judgment, but the issue is likely to arise at trial.

Marcella Bombardieri can be reached at bombardieri @globe.com.