Judge rules parts of lawsuit by families of 2 Va. Tech victims can move forward

Parts of Va. Tech families’ lawsuit can go forward

RICHMOND, Va. — Key parts of a $10 million lawsuit filed by the families of two students slain in the mass shootings at Virginia Tech can go forward, a judge in Virginia ruled Tuesday.

Visiting Circuit Court Judge William Alexander said the families of Julia Pryde and Erin Peterson alleged enough facts about gross negligence by the university, president Charles Steger and former executive vice president James Hyatt to allow a case against them to proceed.

But Alexander said allegations against four other officials and members of the group that coordinated the school’s response on April 16, 2007, did not state a sufficient cause of action against them.

He ruled cases against three employees of Virginia Tech’s counseling center can proceed.

But the judge dismissed the families’ claims against a local community services board and its staff.

The rulings are not a finding of fact or fault, but simply that the allegations are clear enough to warrant a trial.

Peterson and Pryde’s families claim in lawsuits seeking $10 million that the state, Virginia Tech and university and mental health officials were grossly negligent by not immediately warning students of two shootings that occurred at 7:15 a.m. on April 16, 2007, in a dormitory. The families claim the two-hour delay in notifying faculty and staff was the result of officials putting concerns about the school’s image above campus safety.

The lawsuits also claim a local health center where student gunman Seung-Hui Cho had gone did not adequately treat or monitor him.

Most of the families of slain students accepted their share of an $11 million state settlement.

Cho killed 32 people before taking his own life in April 2007 during the nation’s worst mass shooting. Officials still don’t know why Cho, a loner who had attracted little attention, killed so many people. Assistant Attorney General Mike F. Melis had said during a hearing last month that officials were not negligent because they took actions based on the information they had available to them at the time.

He also argued that Steger and others should be extended sovereign immunity because their positions are established and funded by the state.

Robert T. Hall, Peterson and Pryde’s attorney, did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment.

University spokesman Mark Owczarski said in a statement that the ruling is another step in the “long journey to ultimately resolve the facts surrounding the horrific events.”

“We strongly believe that Virginia Tech personnel acted appropriately in the events leading up to, during, and after April 16, 2007,” Owczarski said in a statement. “We will vigorously defend against allegations made to the contrary.”