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The parents of Katie Meyer filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Stanford University and some of the school’s administrators. The lawsuit claims Katie’s suicide was “triggered” by the actions of the University.

On March 1st, Katie Meyer, the captain of the Stanford Women’s Soccer Team, committed suicide. Katie Meyer, the team goalie, helped lead Stanford to the 2019 NCAA championship. The 22-year-old student athlete died in her on-campus housing.

“We are deeply troubled and disappointed with what we have learned since her passing and have no choice but to move forward with litigation to achieve justice for Katie and protect future students,” the Meyer family said in a statement.

This is the first-time details of Stanford’s potential disciplinary action have been made public.

The lawsuit claims the University was pursuing disciplinary action against the woman for an August 2021 incident.

Wrongful death lawsuit 

The lawsuit alleges that Katie was riding a bike on campus when she spilled coffee on a football player. The football player had allegedly sexually assaulted one of her teammates, who was a minor at the time.

Six months after the coffee spilling incident, Stanford’s Office of Community Standards, sent an email informing Katie of impending disciplinary action, the lawsuit states.

The email informed her that her degree was placed “on-hold” 3-months before graduation.

Katie’s parents said she was facing repercussions for defending her teammate.

The lawsuit claims that when she received the “threatening’ email it caused her “to suffer an acute stress reaction that impulsively led to her suicide.”

According to the lawsuit, “The actions that led to the death of Katie Meyer began and ended with Stanford University.”  

“The formal disciplinary charge letter related to spilled coffee also informed Katie her diploma was being placed on hold only three (3) months shy of her graduation; threatening her status as a Stanford student, Captain and member of the Soccer team, Residential Advisor, Mayfield Fellow, Defense Innovative Scholar, and her ability to attend Stanford Law school, amongst many other things,” per the court documents.

Katie Meyers responded before suicide

After receiving the letter, the soccer star immediately responded. The lawsuit claims she wrote an email, telling the university she was “shocked and distraught” over the disciplinary action.

“Stanford employees failed to support Katie when she expressed feelings of despair, she wrote that she was ‘terrified an accident will destroy my future.’ And she said she had ‘been scared for months that my clumsiness will ruin my chances of leaving Stanford on a good note.’ She added that she was experiencing much ‘anxiety’ related to the OCS Process,” the lawsuit added.

Noting that Meyer had no history of depression or self-harm, the lawsuit said she was planning for her future. In the days before her death, she purchased plane tickets. She was planning a birthday party. And she was attending her classes and going to soccer practices as she normally did.

Stanford refutes wrongful death claims

 Stanford University spokesperson Dee Mostofi refuted the lawsuit’s claims.

“The Stanford community continues to grieve Katie’s tragic death and we sympathize with her family for the unimaginable pain that Katie’s passing has caused them,” Mostofi said.

“However, we strongly disagree with any assertion that the university is responsible for her death. While we have not yet seen the formal complaint brought by the Meyer family, we are aware of some of the allegations made in the filing, which are false and misleading,” Mostofi added.

According to Mostofi, the university spokesperson, the letter to Meyer also contained “a number to call for immediate support and was specifically told that this resource was available to her 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

a “It is important to emphasize that we are committed to supporting students through the student judicial process under OCS, and we did so in this case. In particular, the university offered Katie an advisor to work with her throughout the process and told her she could have a support person of her choosing with her in any meeting or conversation with OCS,” Mostofi added.

If you or a loved one have contemplated suicide, call 988 to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. It provides free and confidential support 24 hours a day, seven days a week for people in suicidal crisis or distress. For crisis support in Spanish, call 1-888-628-9454 or find help at International Association for Suicide Prevention.