Stanford University has reached a settlement with the family of soccer star Katie Meyer, who died by suicide in 2022, after they accused the school of contributing towards her tragic death.
Meyer, a captain and goalkeeper for the Cardinals, took her own life in March 2022 – hours after discovering that she could be expelled for spilling hot coffee on a Stanford football player.
Her parents sued Stanford in a wrongful death lawsuit, accusing the California school of ‘systematic failures’ and dealing with her disciplinary case ‘negligently and recklessly’.
The bitter legal dispute came to an end on Monday when the university reached a settlement with the family of the late soccer star.
Financial details of the settlement have not been disclosed, however, it has been revealed that, as part of the agreement, Stanford will retire Meyer’s number 19 jersey in her memory.
The school has reportedly also agreed to adopt the principles of ‘Katie Meyer’s Law,’ which has been championed by her parents in the wake of the death.
Katie Meyer, a captain and goalkeeper for the Stanford Cardinal, took her own life in 2022
Meyer’s parents Steven (L) and Gina (R) sued Stanford in a wrongful death lawsuit
Under the ‘Katie Meyer’s Law,’ students facing disciplinary action will have access to mental health support and advisers.
Stanford will further honor Meyer by launching a new mental health initiative for student athletes at the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute and establish the ‘Katie Meyer Leadership Award.’
‘While Katie’s passing remains devastating and tragic, the memory of her accomplishments and the uplifting influence she had on those who knew her lives on,’ the Meyer family said in a statement, announcing the terms of the settlement.
‘Stanford and the Meyer family believe that working together on these initiatives will both honor Katie’s indelible legacy and help current and future students in meaningful ways.’
The settlement puts an end to the high-stakes wrongful death lawsuit filed by Steven and Gina Meyer that accused the elite institution of driving their daughter to suicide with its ‘reckless’ and ‘threatening’ late-night disciplinary email.
Towards the end of her fifth and final year, Meyer was charged by the university over spilling coffee onto one of the school’s football players. Meyer said it was an accident. The football player – who had been accused of making ‘an unwanted sexual advance’ on one of Meyer’s teammates – said otherwise.
But, according to an ESPN documentary ‘Save: The Katie Meyer Story’ last year, the football star did not make a formal complaint and insisted he ‘did not want any punishment that impacts (Meyer’s) life’.
But the school nevertheless investigated Meyer over six months and on the evening of February 28, 2022, the 22-year-old was told her degree was being put on hold and she could be kicked out of school.
The family accused Stanford of ‘systematic failures’ and dealing with her case ‘negligently and recklessly’
Meyer was the goalkeeper on the national champion Stanford Cardinal in 2019
That night, Meyer began ‘frantically searching’ online about how to defend herself at trial.
The following morning Meyer – who led the Cardinals to a 2019 national title – was found dead in her dorm room.
According to the family complaint, Meyer had been meeting with sports psychologists and was ‘experiencing increased depression symptoms associated with perceived failure and endorsed suicidal ideations’.
She also told the school that she had been ‘stressed out for months’ revealing: ‘(I am) terrified that an accident will destroy my future.’
In one of their defenses in the lawsuit, Stanford pointed out that – shortly before her death – ‘Katie chose to make her final oral presentation about her years before Stanford and growing up with controlling parents and pressure to succeed.’
Stanford also argued that ‘any reasonable person would consider Katie’s suicide a highly unusual, extraordinary response to the situation’, adding: ‘The Stanford defendants did not know and had no reason to expect that Katie would act in this manner.’
But the Meyer’s lawyer insisted: ‘There is no denying they knew that their process could cause distress (and) harm.’
She claimed that Stanford had long been ‘on notice’ after previous, ‘serious concern’ about the school’s disciplinary and judicial processes.
If you are struggling, reach out to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
