Benedictine Wants Lawsuit Dismissed

Attorneys for Benedictine University cite technical flaws in a lawsuit filed by the family of a former student as the reason a DuPage County judge should dismiss the case, court records show.

The estate of Rachel Julius and her father - and former school administrator - Daniel, sued the university earlier this year claiming campus officials wrongly took certain items belonging to Rachel in the day after she overdosed inside an apartment run by the school. She died in 2009.

In particular, the Julius' complaint focused on the disappearance of Rachel's personal journal, which the family claims contained information about how she was mistreated by a professor in an act of retaliation against Daniel Julius, the lawsuit states.

However, the school - which has not yet responded directly to the allegations - recently filed a motion to dismiss which generally suggests the case is flawed in that it improperly states and intertwines accusations made individually by Daniel with those from Rachel's estate.

In addition, the lawsuit does not ask for specific relief - monetary damages or otherwise - from the university.

On Tuesday, Judge Patrick Leston scheduled an Aug. 23 hearing where attorneys will argue the dismissal motion. Leston also granted a university request to delay turning over evidence asked for by Julius' attorney until after a ruling on dismissal.

Rachel Julius was hospitalized for several months before dying in 2009. Daniel Julius previously tried to sue the man believed to have provided his daughter with cocaine, Oxycodone and marijuana the night of her overdose. The man was not charged with any crimes related to her death and never responded to the lawsuit, prompting a default judgment to be entered against him.

In April, Julius sued Benedictine and four officials claiming they conspired to take and dispose of Rachel Julius' items, including the journal, while the DuPage County Sheriff's Office investigated her overdose and then lied about what happened.

The university contends Daniel Julius cannot make certain claims, relating to Rachel's privacy rights and about wrongdoing by officials, because of daughter's age and their connections to the school, according to documents filed by Benedictine attorneys.

Julius' allegations "impermissibly" combine his and the estate's claims against the university "despite the fact that Rachel Julius, an adult enrolled as a student at Benedictine, and Daniel Julius, her father, stand in different relationships to the defendants," the dismissal motion states.

Specific to the journal, Benedictine officials argue Daniel Julius offers no proof he "had any right in the personal journal of his daughter" and "makes no allegations as to the contents of the journal for which one could infer the value of the journal to the estate," court documents show.

University attorneys also point out in the filing that because of Rachel Julius' condition while hospitalized, she was not able to discern the journal had been taken by anyone or demand its immediate return.

Rachel's journal had her "feelings and thoughts" on her personal life and health, Benedictine and "various academic issues" with school officials, according to the lawsuit.

The journal, which has not been returned, "contained information about Rachel Julius' depression about the failing or poor grade" given to her by the professor accused of "a pattern of harassment."