School soccer goalkeeper Katie Meyer was going through disciplinary motion earlier than her dying in February, in keeping with a wrongful dying lawsuit filed by her mother and father in opposition to the college.
Meyer was mentioned to be driving her bike in the summertime when she apparently spilled espresso on a Stanford soccer participant, who allegedly sexually assaulted a feminine soccer participant — a minor on the time — in keeping with the lawsuit, which was obtained by USA As we speak Sports activities.
Meyer, who served because the captain of the Stanford girls’s soccer crew, was despatched a discover concerning imminent disciplinary motion over the incident, which happened in August, on the night of her dying, per the swimsuit.
“Stanford’s after-hours disciplinary cost, and the reckless nature and method of submission to Katie, precipitated Katie to undergo an acute stress response that impulsively led to her (dying),” the criticism learn.
“Katie’s (dying) was accomplished with out planning and solely in response to the stunning and deeply distressing info she acquired from Stanford whereas alone in her room with none help or sources.”
Meyer is alleged to have acquired the discover after 7pm, when campus counseling sources had already closed, per the criticism, which additionally famous that Meyer “instantly responded to the e-mail expressing how ‘shocked and distraught’ she was over being charged and threatened with removing from the college.”
The swimsuit alleges that Stanford “failed to answer Katie’s expression of misery, as a substitute ignored it and scheduled a gathering for 3 days later through electronic mail,” and the way college staff “made no effort in anyway to examine on Katie’s well-being, both by a easy cellphone name or in-person welfare examine.”
Dee Mostofi, who’s Stanford’s assistant vp of exterior communications, said that the pinnacle of the Workplace of Neighborhood reached out to Meyer “a number of days” previous to the late student-athlete receiving the formal letter. Mostofi mentioned the OCS particular person “gave Katie till that date to supply any additional info for consideration,” and that Meyer “supplied no info and OCS knowledgeable her on the night of February 28 that the matter would transfer to a listening to.”
“The Stanford group continues to grieve Katie’s tragic dying and we sympathise along with her household for the unimaginable ache that Katie’s passing has precipitated them,” Mostofi mentioned in an electronic mail to USA As we speak. “Nevertheless, we strongly disagree with any assertion that the college is liable for her dying.”
Meyer’s discover is alleged to have contained a cellphone quantity to contact for “rapid help,” and was knowledgeable the provision of the useful resource was 24 hours a day and 7 days per week, per Mostofi. Meyer can be mentioned to have been “explicitly advised that this was not a willpower that she did something improper, and OCS provided to satisfy along with her to debate the matter if she wished.”
The soccer participant was not in search of any punishment that will “influence” Meyer’s life in the course of the disciplinary course of, per USA As we speak.
Meyer was 22 years outdated on the time of her dying.
Meyer helped Stanford seize the 2019 NCAA girls’s soccer championship. She majored in worldwide relations and minored in historical past.
— This story initially appeared on nypost.com and has been republished with permission
