MIT Not Responsible For Student's Suicide: MA Court

CAMBRIDGE, MA — MIT was not responsible for the suicide of a grad student on its campus, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled this week. But the court did say universities and colleges hold some responsibility in protecting students from suicide.

The father of Han Duy Nguyen filed a wrongful death lawsuit against MIT, two professors in the Sloan School of Management and an MIT assistant dean for the death of his son who was 25 years old when, after getting a phone call from a professor reprimanding him for an email, jumped off an MIT building and killed himself in June 2009.

Nguyen's family said that it was disappointed that the court found MIT had no duty to protect their son from taking his own life, according to the family attorney Jeffrey Beeler in a statement to WBUR.

Still, said Beeler in the statement "The rule of the Nguyen case will save student lives going forward."

He was talking about the part of the court ruling that mentioned the duty to universities.

"We stress that the duty here, at least for nonclinicians, is limited," reads the ruling, which goes on to say the duty is created only by "actual knowledge" of a student's attempt to kill themselves if it occurred while enrolled at the university or recently, or if a student makes plans or intentions to commit suicide known.

Nguyen's family attorney had previously argued that because had an extensive history of mental health issues and had seen at least nine mental health professionals who collectively recorded more than 90 visits - even though they were off campus - his issues were well known on campus. At least a few of Nguyen's professors were aware he was receiving outside mental health treatment, they said, and should have known to handle him with care.

But he only started seeking help on campus in 2007, when he started having academic troubles because of what he said was severe insomnia. He was referred to various support services on campus and attended some appointments where he revealed his mental health history, but he declined treatment on campus.

Two professors took steps to help the student at exam time and urged other professors to find ways to accommodate him, according to court records.

But on June 2, 2009, one reprimanded Nguyen for what the two considered disrespectful email Nguyen had written to someone at a lab where he was about to start as a research assistant.

After the phone call, Nguyen walked to the roof of the on-campus building he was in and jumped to his death.

In its ruling, the court said that although colleges have some responsibility,"universities are not responsible for monitoring and controlling all aspects of their students' lives."

The ruling goes on:

"Nguyen never communicated by words or actions to any MIT employee that he had stated plans or intentions to commit suicide, and any prior suicide attempts occurred well over a year before matriculation," the ruling states. "There was no evidence that Wernerfelt and Prelec had actual knowledge of Nguyen's plans or intentions to commit suicide. Both were academics; neither was a trained clinician. Nguyen's communications to them about his mental health problems related to insomnia and test-taking, not to suicidal thoughts."

Read the entire ruling here: Nguyen Case

Read the WBUR article here, which had it first: SJC Rules MIT Not Responsible

File Photo by Jenna Fisher/Patch