Harvard University Systematically Violates the Rights of Students with Mental Health Disabilities
May 22, 2025—Boston, Massachusetts—Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) and Nichols Kaster, PLLP (NK), filed a lawsuit today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts against Harvard University for its systematic discrimination against students with mental health disabilities. DRA and NK bring this suit on behalf of Students 4 Mental Health Justice (S4MHJ), a student-led advocacy organization whose membership includes current Harvard students impacted by the university’s discriminatory policies. In bringing this suit, S4MHJ seeks to end these discriminatory practices against its Harvard student members.
The lawsuit challenges how Harvard responds to disability-related behavior with exclusion, blame, and draconian measures, discriminating against students with mental health disabilities. S4MHJ alleges that Harvard excludes students with mental health disabilities by preventing students from returning to campus, including their residential housing, following mental health-related hospitalizations, depriving them of their community and support system at a time when they are particularly vulnerable. As a result, these students are forced to make arrangements to have friends or family retrieve or collect their belongings from their dorm rooms. S4MHJ alleges that Harvard often prevents students from returning to campus, even after treating providers have determined that they are not at risk of harm to themselves or others.
For students who then seek to return to campus following mental health-related hospitalizations, S4MHJ alleges that Harvard imposes burdensome requirements to return, many of which are unrelated to their mental health recovery, such as work requirements. Should a student be allowed to return, Harvard requires them to sign coercive and onerous contracts for the duration of their enrollment, compelling them to undergo mental health treatment under surveillance by the university, and under threat of expulsion should they fail to comply.
As a result of these policies and practices, S4MHJ contends that Harvard denies students with mental health disabilities equal access to its programs in violation of federal and state discrimination laws. Read the complaint.
“Harvard labelled me a liability for seeking the support I needed,” said one member of S4MHJ. “When I reached out for help, I thought my treatment would remain between me and my mental health providers. Instead, Harvard took over. Under the threat of expulsion, they forced me to sign a contract with no end-date. Now, administrators who I’ve never met can ask invasive questions from my providers, contact others about my health without my consent, and surveil me.”
“We never imagined we’d have to take legal action against the school we sacrificed so much to attend,” said another S4MHJ member. “But Harvard has created a culture of fear where asking for help can cost you your medical privacy, housing, health insurance, financial aid, and future. We’re taking legal action because students should be empowered to get the care they need—not cast aside as liabilities.”
“Instead of providing compassion and support, Harvard chooses to treat students with mental health disabilities like they are threats to the community,” said Madeleine Reichman, Senior Staff Attorney at DRA. “Such reliance on stereotype and fear plainly violates federal disability rights laws. Harvard students with mental health disabilities must be treated like all other students and given the chance to be part of their communities.”
“We are proud to represent Students 4 Mental Health Justice in challenging Harvard’s treatment of students with mental health disabilities,” said Robert Schug of Nichols Kaster, PLLP. “Students should never be put in a position to choose between seeking critical support for their mental health needs and being banned from their campus communities.”
Students 4 Mental Health Justice: Students 4 Mental Health Justice (S4MHJ) is a student-led membership advocacy group dedicated to building college campuses that are inclusive for students who are neurodivergent, mentally ill, and/or experience mental health crises. Many of S4MHJ’s members are current Harvard students with mental health disabilities who have been directly harmed by Harvard’s discriminatory policies and practices.
Disability Rights Advocates (DRA): With offices in California, New York, and Illinois, Disability Rights Advocates is the leading national nonprofit disability rights legal center. Its mission is to advance equal rights and opportunity for people with all types of disabilities nationwide. DRA represents people with all types of disabilities in complex, system-changing, class action cases. Thanks to DRA’s precedent-setting work, people with disabilities across the country have dramatically improved access to education, health care, employment, transportation, disaster preparedness planning, voting, and housing. For more information, visit www.dralegal.org.
Nichols Kaster, PLLP: Nichols Kaster, PLLP is a nationally recognized law firm with offices in Minneapolis, Minnesota and San Francisco, California. For over 50 years, the firm has been dedicated to advocating for the rights of employees and consumers in individual and class action litigation across the United States. The firm’s practice encompasses a wide range of areas, including employment discrimination, wage and hour disputes, financial services litigation, civil rights, and whistleblower (qui tam) actions. For more information, visit https://www.nka.com/.