The family of San Jose State student Brenden Tiggs has sued the school after the 18-year-old committed suicide in his campus dorm room.
Campus police confronted a drunk and upset Tiggs as he returned to his dorm early on Feb. 9, advising him to seek mental health care. They did not, however, encourage him to see a mental health specialist at the time.
After his encounter with campus police, Tiggs committed suicide later that day.
Tiggs's family is suing San Jose State for negligence on behalf of the SJSU police, claiming they should have done more to help the struggling freshman. The Tiggs family’s lawyer tells the San Jose Mercury News that no one from the school checked on him the morning after police approached him.
This is the second lawsuit involving negligence filed against the school this year, after an earlier one was filed concerning a student hate crime case.
Four students charged with that crime have pleaded not guilty, the Mercury News reports, but three have since been expelled from the university and the fourth is on probation for the rest of his college career.
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San Jose State has not commented on the Tiggs lawsuit.
