A graduate of Yale University recently filed a lawsuit against the university, several school officials, and Yale New Haven Hospital after she was allegedly involuntarily held at the hospital when she “admitted herself for depression.” Additionally, the lawsuit claims that Yale “forced her to withdraw from the university.”
A graduate of Yale University recently filed a lawsuit against the university, several school officials, and Yale New Haven Hospital after she was allegedly involuntarily held at the hospital when she “admitted herself for depression.” Additionally, the lawsuit claims that Yale “forced her to withdraw from the university.”
The plaintiff, identified in the suit as Z.P., “went to see her religious adviser in November 2016 because she was upset about two suicides on campus that fall,” according to the lawsuit. From there, she was referred to Yale Mental Health and Counseling and later advised to “admit herself to Yale New Haven Hospital.”
At the time, Z.P. was a senior living on campus. Shortly after her ordeal, she “claimed a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Fair Housing Act,” and was eventually reinstated at Yale University where she graduated in 2018.
When commenting on his client’s ordeal, Robert J. De Groot of Newark, New Jersey said the university “forced his client to withdraw because the university was concerned about further publicity after the two suicides.” In addition to naming the university and Yale New Haven Hospital as defendants, the suit also names “Yale President Peter Salovey, Jonathan Holloway, then Yale College dean and now provost of Northwestern University, Dr. Lorraine Siggins, director of Yale Mental Health and Counseling, and several unnamed employees of Yale.”
The plaintiff first sought out mental health help after two suicides occurred on campus. According to the complaint, the plaintiff “was disenchanted about the campus returning to its ‘business as usual’ atmosphere after the suicides.” When she arrived at Yale New Haven Hospital, she was “told that if she admitted herself, she would meet with ‘a treatment team’ on the next business day but was not told that she could be held involuntarily,” the suit claims.
Court documents also state that the “hospital did apply to commit her involuntarily for up to two weeks under a ‘physician’s emergency certificate.’” However, when her parents arrived at Yale Health Center to pick up the papers, “there was no such certificate,” according to the suit. Additionally, the lawsuit also argues that the “hospital illegally gave Yale University the plaintiff’s medical information.” It further states:
“While Z.P. was hospitalized, she was placed on medical leave from Yale, effectively withdrawing her from school…This decision was made despite the Plaintiff’s improved mood and coping skills.”
Not long after being withdrawn from the university, Z.P. made an appeal and called Yale a “refuge from her stressful home environment” and added that “leaving Yale would be less conducive to her recovery.” The appeal letter went in to say:
“Please let me continue to learn how not to be afraid, continue to grow and become an adult who is strong enough to make a better life for herself. Please let me return to Yale and continue to help myself.”
The appeal was denied on November 15, 2016, and she was discharged November 17. As a result of the plaintiff’s ordeal, the suit is asking for punitive and compensatory damages, along with attorney’s fees and costs.
Yale University and Yale New Haven Hospital have yet to comment on the lawsuit.
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