Parents of deceased Truman State students lose appeal against university

The Missouri Court of Appeals Western District on Sept. 21 affirmed the dismissal of a breach-of-contract suit by the parents of two students who alleged that Truman State University failed to protect their sons, who died by apparent suicide.

Between 2016 and 2017, five people each committed identical suicides. According to the court opinion, two of them were Kirksville residents while three others, including Alexander David Mullins and Joshua Michael Thomas, had joined the Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity with another student, Brandon Grossheim, at Truman State.

Melissa Bottorff-Arey, Mullins’ mother, and Thomas’ parents, Suzanne and Michael Thomas, sued the university; the fraternity chapter and national organization; campus security; Grossheim; and Truman’s vice president of student affairs, Lou Ann Gilchrist. An Adair County judge dismissed the parents’ claims against the university and Gilchrist.

The parents sued the university under the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act (MMPA). They claimed that when the parents purchased admissions and tuition for their students to attend Truman, the school misrepresented and made false promises that their students would have access to a course of action, resources, and intervention for a potential mental health crisis, and be provided with an emergency notification system and timely notice of dangerous people nearby.

Though the appellants argued that Truman is a corporation that would fall under the MMPA’s definition of a “person” subject to liability under the law, the court determined that Truman is a public corporation, which is not included in the MMPA’s definition. As a result, the appellate court dismissed the MMPA claim.

The parents also appealed their breach of contract claim against Truman and negligence claims against Gilchrist, alleging they’d said they would follow the Clery Act, a federal law that requires schools to self-report allegations of crimes in the student community.

The suit alleges that Gilchrist failed to report Grossheim, who allegedly gave the students instructions on how to commit suicide.

But the court said the Clery Act clearly states that it does not establish a standard of care or create a cause of action against higher education institutions or their employees for a civil liability.

“Moreover, even if we were to find that Appellants’ breach of contract claim based on Truman’s alleged noncompliance with the Clery Act were permissible, the Act disallows the admission of any evidence of noncompliance, or compliance, with the Act in any court proceeding,” Judge Lisa White Hardwick wrote in the opinion.

The suit continues against the fraternity and Grossheim in the circuit court.

Nicole Gorovsky of Gorovsky Law represents the appellants. She did not respond to a call for comment.

Jeffrey H. Blaylock of Ford, Parshall & Baker represents the defendants. He did not respond to a call for comment.

The case is Bottorf-Arey et al. v. Truman State University et. al., WD84006.