As reported by NBC New York, a former Catholic school student is suing the Boston college she attended because school administrators failed to assist her after she had lodged a complaint about her roommate’s sexual activities and made a request to be moved.
The woman, L.B., has claimed that due to having to witness an abundance of sexual trysts in her shared dorm room, she fell into a deep depression and eventually had to finish her studies from home to receive her bachelor’s degree.
In the lawsuit L.B. states that she suffered with both depression and attention deficit syndrome before she began studies at Stonehill College. But that soon escalated to suicidal depression when school officials were negligent in finding her different accommodations.
The school, a Roman Catholic college, is located in Boston, Mass.
L.B. contends that while she was in the same dorm with her roommate, and attempting to sleep a few feet away, the other student engaged in sexual acts and “sexually inappropriate video chatting.”
L.B. went to the school’s administrators, asking that they move one of them out of the dorm and into another, more acceptable, accommodation. Her request allegedly fell on deaf ears and L.B. made her own move – from her dorm into a hotel room.
The suit states, “Stonehill refused (L.B.’s) request for a single room and in the following weeks and months (L.B.) fell into a dark and suicidal depression requiring her to take a leave of absence from school and undergo extensive psychiatric and medical treatment.”
By September of 2011 L.B. had retreated to her home in New York – completing her final semester of school at home – and received her bachelor’s of arts degree.
L.B. had enrolled in the Catholic college in 2007. The problems, however, didn’t occur until her senior year.
The suit seeks unspecified damages. It was filed in the U.S. District Court in Boston the last week of February.
Kristen Magda, the spokeswoman for Stonehill, said that pursuant to L.B.’s requests the college moved “swiftly and professionally.” Magda said they first tried to resolve the dispute between the two women with mediation via the residence directors. Magda also contended that “multiple options” were offered to L.B. – including campus housing or a private room – which L.B. allegedly failed to find acceptable.
Furthermore, Magda said, “At no time did the student notify college staff that her concerns involved her roommate's sexual activity.”
L.B. said, according to the lawsuit, that the two options presented by the college were moving to a study lounge turned into a dorm room or to move into a dorm with a student unknown to L.B., and that the room had a different, but equally-repelling reputation: it was known as the “party dorm.”
Have you been made to suffer due to the actions of another? That is a good reason to contact a personal injury lawyer and work to recover your damages.