NJ Student Dies In Quarantine – But COVID Didn’t Kill Her: Lawsuit

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — When Kristen McCartney was in third grade, her parents noticed that she would persistently wave her hand in front of her face, something they thought was possibly due to a tic. After taking her to a doctor, McCartney was diagnosed with epilepsy – a neurological disorder that causes surges of electrical activity in the brain.

A decade later, McCartney died of a seizure while she was quarantined alone overnight in an COVID-19 isolation room at Seton Hall University in South Orange. And according to her parents – who filed a lawsuit against the university last week – the 20-year-old suffered an “entirely avoidable death” that continues to raise serious questions about what happened that tragic night.

Read the lawsuit below or view it online here.

According to the lawsuit, which was filed on May 14, McCartney was a sophomore at Seton Hall’s School of Diplomacy and International Relations when she tested positive for COVID-19 in September 2021.

Under the school’s pandemic “restart” plan, the North Carolina resident was required to move from her regular dormitory room to a designated isolation dormitory room in Neumann Hall for a mandatory 10-day quarantine.

Initially, one of McCartney’s roommates who also tested positive for COVID-19 the previous day was also placed in the same room. On Sept. 19, her roommate was allowed to leave the isolation room and return to her regular dorm room. McCartney – who has never lived alone at Seton Hall before that day and always had roommates who could call for help if needed – was left behind in the isolation room to finish her quarantine.

She would never leave.

The next morning, university staff found McCartney face down and unresponsive in her room. Revival attempts were unsuccessful. An autopsy report later found that she died of a seizure.

Now, the late student’s parents are alleging that Seton Hall knew about her medical history – she’d informed the school several times about her epilepsy, including on a medical form she turned in while applying to play soccer at the university – and failed to provide the health or safety checks that could have prevented her death.

It’s an allegation that university administrators are denying.

“Kristen was a beloved member of our community,” a Seton Hall spokesperson told Patch when reached for comment about the lawsuit.

“We continue to mourn her passing, which was heartbreaking, but not the result of any actions by the university,” she added.

OLIVE BRANCH NECKLACE: ‘SHE LOVED BEING A PIRATE’

Seton Hall first released information about McCartney’s death on Sept. 20, 2021, announcing that a undergraduate resident student died in Neumann Hall following a “medical emergency.” The student’s identity was withheld to respect the family’s privacy.

“We are anguished at the loss of any member of our university family, but especially at the death of a student,” President Joseph Nyre wrote, adding that counseling services were available for the student community.

“We ache with the knowledge that someone so young will no longer be present among us, and we mourn with family and friends who are being told of this loss,” Nyre added.

Seton Hall identified McCartney as the deceased student two days later, relaying a message from her parents to her fellow students:

“For everyone in the Seton Hall community who loved our daughter and took time to know her, we say thank you from the very bottom of our hearts. She loved being a Pirate!”

McCartney’s sorority sisters at Alpha Omicron Pi also mourned for their peer, saying that she left an “indelible mark on our campus” after passing away while in quarantine.

“Kristen was an advocate – she made a point to fight for the underdog and always advocated for the lives and rights of others.” the sorority wrote, recalling that she always wore an olive branch necklace as a reminder to seek peace and friendship in all situations.

McCartney flourished in academics and volunteering while at the university, planning to work in the field of international law when she graduated. But she also continued to experience issues with her epilepsy – a condition that is considered a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act – having two seizures while at Seton Hall in December 2020 and January 2021.

Despite her medical history, Seton Hall placed McCartney in an isolation room without taking precautions in the event she had another seizure, something that they should have “reasonably” planned for, her parents allege.

Instead, the college student suffered a Grand Mal seizure, which may have caused her to bite her tongue and suffocate in her blankets, they contend.

Sean McCartney and Donna Dockery are now seeking compensatory and equitable relief, pecuniary damages and attorneys’ fees under their lawsuit in connection with their daughter’s death.

To add insult to injury, university administrators allegedly refused to provide them with crucial details about McCartney’s death or their COVID-19 protocols. They did, however, send her parents multiple requests for donations – something that continued for months after her passing in spite of repeated demands for them to stop, the lawsuit claims.

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