A college student is suing her school over her roommate's sexual habits, arguing her living companion’s exhibitionist behavior drove her to become depressed and suicidal.
In a criminal complaint filed against Stonehill College last week and obtained by CBS News, Lindsay Blankmeyer claims her roommate “Laura” would “have sex with her boyfriend while Lindsay was trying to sleep just a few feet away.”
"The roommate was having online and actual sex right in front of her,” Blankmeyer's complaint states, adding her roommate would also engage in “sexually inappropriate video chatting when Lindsay was in the room.”
Seeking to recover $150,000 from the Easton, Mass. School, Blankmeyer blames administrators for ignoring her emotional condition and for failing to help her resolve the situation.
Blankmeyer argues her "mental health began to deteriorate" from her roommate's behavior and she asked to be moved to a single room, but when the school “refused” this request, she "fell into a dark and suicidal depression requiring her to take a leave of absence" and "undergo extensive psychiatric and medical treatment."
She claims the school's resident director "did nothing" to help her fix the situation, and that prior to a scheduled mediation session, “Laura grabbed Lindsay while she was sleeping and began shaking her and yelling at her. Lindsay was terrified and pretended to remain asleep.”
After the incident, Blankmeyer said she “did not feel safe” in the room and moved to a hotel, where she ultimately became so depressed she was forced to finish her degree from home.
Stonehill College defended its actions, telling ABC News it had "responded swiftly and professionally to the concerns of the student in this case, seeking to help resolve the matter."
"The issues between the student and her roommate were first attempted to be resolved through mediation with a residence director," Stonehill spokeswoman Kristen Magda Magda told ABC. "The student was then presented with multiple options for housing on campus, including a private room. The College also made special arrangements for the student to complete her degree while living at home. At no time did the student notify College staff that her concerns involved sexual activity by her roommate."
Blankmeyer's complaint acknowledges she suffered from depression and Attention Deficit Disorder when she began at Stonehill College in 2007 and that she was briefly hospitalized during her freshman year "to treat an exacerbation of her mental illness," but says her emotional state was taken to new heights her senior year by her roommate's inconsiderate behavior.
She is suing on the grounds the school violated the Rehabilitation Act, the federal Fair Housing Act Amendments, and the state's anti-discrimination laws.
“We are reviewing the complaint, which focuses on a previous roommate issue,” Martin McGovern, director of Communications and Media Relations at Stonehill College, told CBS News in a statement. “There are two sides, and sometimes more, to every story.”
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