LEXINGTON, Va. — A university and its counselor are being sued for $12 million each by a former student who says they didn't do enough to stop his suicide attempts.
The Roanoke Times reports that a lawsuit filed this week by Kionte Burnette accuses Washington and Lee University and counselor Rallie Snowden of negligence.
It says that after Burnette told Snowden he planned to jump off a bridge, the counselor told him to attend his classes and football practice and then spend the night at the campus health center.
Snowden followed up several times that day by text and phone, making Burnette promise not to hurt himself, but he did so anyway, trying twice to kill himself.
The lawsuit says he should have been escorted to an emergency room for a psychiatric evaluation.