Annie Le's Family Sues Yale

Yale University could have, and should have, done more to protect Annie Le and other women on campus, Le’s family claims in a lawsuit filed yesterday. The family is suing for wrongful death over the murder of Le, who was killed by a co-worker at a campus lab in 2009. Yale has “long taken inadequate steps to ensure the safety and security of women on its campus,” the family’s attorneys said in a statement, according to the Hartford Courant. The lawsuit claims that sexual attacks and harassment are “well-documented and long-standing” problems at Yale.

Specifically, the suit accuses Yale of a slow response, noting that the university should have been aware that Le did not exit the building during a fire alarm on Sept. 8 along with other students. Yale also knew Le did not go home that night, but “did not investigate her absence in earnest until the following morning,” the lawsuit claims. It also notes that the university should have known Raymond Clark III, who was sentenced to 44 years in prison for Le’s murder, was a threat since he had shown “aggressive behavior and a violent propensity towards women.” In a statement, Yale says “there is no basis” for the suit. (More Annie Le stories.)