Information on lawsuit by family of Katie Meyer

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. However, we strongly disagree with any assertion that the university is responsible for her death. The complaint brought by the Meyer family unfortunately contains allegations that are false and misleading.

Stanford’s Office of Community Standards (OCS) received a complaint regarding alleged behavior by Katie that resulted in physical injury, and as is the practice of the office, it launched a review of that allegation. After extensive factfinding and the opportunity for both sides to provide information, it was found that the high threshold was met for the matter to proceed to a hearing. However, 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.

Allegations about the judicial review process

The allegation that OCS did not communicate with Katie prior to February 28 is also incorrect. Several days earlier, the head of OCS had informed Katie that a decision would be made by Feb. 28 whether to proceed to a hearing. She gave Katie until that date to provide any further information for consideration. Katie provided no information, and OCS informed her on the evening of February 28 that the matter would move to a hearing.

In that correspondence, Katie was explicitly told that this was not a determination that she did anything wrong, and OCS offered to meet with her to discuss the matter if she wished. She also was given 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. Shortly after receiving that email, Katie wrote OCS staff and received a reply within the hour. Katie asked for a meeting to discuss the matter, was offered several available times, and chose one three days later despite the availability of an earlier appointment.

Allegations regarding another student athlete

Similarly, the allegation that Stanford failed to address a claim that a football player kissed one of Katie’s soccer teammates without her permission is inaccurate. In fact, it is the university that initially reported this claim to Stanford’s Title IX office and the police. However, the Title IX office did not pursue the matter since the criteria for moving forward with an investigation were not met.

We plan to fully defend the university and named defendants against the allegations in the complaint.