Yale settles lawsuit charging discrimination against students with mental health problems

Yale University has settled a November lawsuit that claimed the university discriminated against students with mental health issues and is making changes to its policies.

The lawsuit, filed by Yale students and the nonprofit Elis for Rachael last year, alleged that Connecticut university’s policies discriminated against students who struggled with their mental health and forced troubled students to withdraw.

Yale officials said they would make several key changes to their mental health policies as part of the settlement. As of Friday, the college has removed the minimum time that students had to stay on medical leave for mental health issues and made it easier for students who dropped out to be reinstated in Yale programming. 

The Ivy League school will also beef up its programs to make students and professors more aware of their mental health resources with revamped training for faculty. 

The settlement also limits police involvement when students leave. Previously, students were required to have a police escort when collecting their belongings after withdrawing from classes. Under the settlement, officers will only be present when there is a danger to students’ safety. 

A group of students sued in November, claiming that Yale officials pressured students to take voluntary medical leave when they experienced mental health struggles. If they did not take the medical leave, they could risk being forced to withdraw. Once students were officially withdrawn, under the previous policy, students were not allowed near campus without Yale’s approval. 

The school’s previous mental health policies have long been under fire from students and faculty. The nonprofit involved in the lawsuit, Elis for Rachael, gets its name from first-year Yale student Rachael Shaw-Rosenbaum, who committed suicide in March 2021 after expressing fears about having to withdraw from the school. 

According to the settlement, the settlement is not “an admission by either Yale or plaintiffs as to any claim, cause of action, or issue of law.”