Charges Against MIT Thrown Out in Elizabeth Shin Lawsuit; Counts Against Administrators, Doctors Remain
By Kelley Rivoire
A judge has cleared MIT of wrongdoing in a $27.65 million lawsuit filed three years ago against MIT employees and the Institute by the parents of Elizabeth H. Shin ’02. In 2000, Shin committed suicide by self-inflicted burns in her Random Hall room following more than a year of mental health treatment at MIT Medical. Counts of wrongdoing filed against individual MIT employees, including doctors and administrators, are still active. Justice Christine M. McEvoy of the Massachusetts Superior Court granted a motion of summary judgment in favor of MIT on all four counts brought against the Institute by Cho Hyun and Kisuk Shin, meaning that no issues of fact that could implicate MIT exist, and MIT cannot reasonably be viewed as guilty on those counts. Three of the four counts deal with contractual obligations of the Institute to provide “necessary and reasonable” medical services to Shin. McEvoy’s decision said that there was no record of “specific promises” by MIT Medical staff to Shin; therefore, “there was no contract” between MIT and the Shins. A motion for summary judgment filed by Random Hall Housemaster Nina Davis-Millis and Arnold R. Henderson, former dean of Counseling and Support Services (since renamed Student Support Services), on six counts was not as successful; the administrators were cleared on only two, negligent misrepresentation and negligent infliction of emotional distress. The legal proceedings for the remaining four counts involving negligence, wrongful death, and conscious pain and suffering, will continue. The judge’s decision said that although the administrators did not treat Shin, they had met with her numerous times and had discussed Shin’s case on the day of her death. As such, there was sufficient evidence that the administrators might have been able to foresee that Shin would harm herself, and they had a duty to “exercise reasonable care to protect Elizabeth from harm.” Additionally, a third administrator, Ayida S. Mthembu, associate dean of Student Support Services, was named in all six counts, but did not file a motion for summary judgment. Four doctors from MIT Medical who were involved in treating Shin for mental health issues, Linda Cunningham, Kristine A. Girard, Anthony Van Niel, and Peter Reich, also filed a motion for partial summary judgment requesting that four of the six counts of medical malpractice against them be thrown out; two of the four were discarded. Girard also independently filed a motion requesting that all six counts against her be discarded; her motion was denied on the additional two counts. A fifth doctor, Lili A. Gottfried, did not file any motion. Cunningham no longer works at MIT. The motions for summary judgment were filed in January and February of this year; McEvoy’s decision was dated June 27. Additionally, no motions for summary judgment have been filed regarding the five counts against former Chief of Campus Police Anne P. Glavin, former CP Dispatcher Orlando Tirella, and former CP Officer Paul Valentino. The Campus Police responded to a call from a Random Hall resident at the time of the fire. Shin was hospitalized for burns on the day of the fire, April 10, 2000, and died four days later. The judge’s rulings granting summary judgment in favor of the defendants can be appealed once decisions have been made on all counts filed by the Shins.
This story was updated on Thursday, July 14, 2005, at 02:05 AM.
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