By Max Mitchell, From The Legal Intelligencer

The suit against Amazon stemming from a University of Pennsylvania student who killed herself using chemicals allegedly bought through the online retailer is not headed for arbitration under a stipulation agreed upon by both sides.

Late last month, Amazon and the mother of Arya Singh, who used soluble cyanide salts to kill herself in February 2013, signed a stipulation agreeing the jury trial waiver in Amazon’s conditions of use is inapplicable, and the case will proceed in court rather than arbitration.

On Wednesday, the plaintiff in Singh v. Amazon.com also filed a praecipe to reissue the writ of summons in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, which is handling the case.

Along with Amazon, the plaintiff is also suing the University of Pennsylvania and a Thai website that allegedly sold the cyanide to Singh through Amazon’s website.

Singh’s mother, Sujata Singh, said her daughter killed herself two years after she had been sexually assaulted on campus, according to the complaint. Arya Singh was a nursing student at Penn in the spring of 2011. The lawsuit alleges negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligent hiring against the university, as well as negligence against Amazon for failing to stop the Thai website from selling banned substances.

The complaint was filed in July, as was a motion for declaratory judgment, which asked the court to find the wrongful death and survival act claims should be heard in state court.

In the declaratory judgment motion, the plaintiff contended the arbitration agreement was vague, and case law holds that survival and wrongful-death claims are not subject to arbitration because the claims belong to the statutory plaintiffs and not the decedents.

The motion additionally referenced the 2013 Superior Court decision in Pisano v. Extendicare Homes, which held that wrongful-death claimants who were nonsignatories to arbitration agreements could not be compelled to arbitration.

“In this case, similar to Pisano, the wrongful-death beneficiaries are not parties to Amazon’s conditions of use, including the jury trial waiver,” said the motion, which was filed by Stewart L. Cohen of Cohen, Placitella & Roth. “As plaintiff’s wrongful death and survival act claims must be consolidated, Amazon’s jury trial waiver in its conditions of use does not apply to plaintiff’s claim.”

According to the complaint, Arya Singh was sexually assaulted while a freshman nursing student, and after the incident was investigated, no charges were brought against the assaulter, who continued to live on campus.

The complaint also outlined behavioral and disciplinary problems that unfolded following the assault, including Singh being arrested while allegedly intoxicated and also disciplined for downloading two movies in violation of the school’s student conduct code.

The complaint also noted Singh began missing classes, and an academic investigation was also opened into whether she falsified time sheets related to a nursing fellowship she was involved with. In the fall of 2012, a disciplinary hold was placed on Singh’s account as a result of the academic misconduct investigation, the complaint said.

Due to the misconduct proceedings, Singh was unable to register for the following semester’s classes, and she was also placed on a mandatory leave of absence before a disciplinary hearing was held, the complaint said. According to the complaint, within hours of being told that she had to leave university housing, Singh committed suicide.

The complaint said that, in early December 2012, Singh had used a website “created, owned, operated and maintained” by Amazon to buy the cyanide tablets, and Amazon processed the payment.

The complaint noted Amazon changed its policies to block all sales of cyanide in the United States in February 2013, but contended Amazon should have known cyanide was being sold on its site dating back at least to May 2012.

“Amazon and/or Thailand defendants sold cyanide products through Amazon’s website in the United States at least 51 times prior to Arya purchasing the cyanide,” the complaint said. “At least 11 resulted in deaths to the purchasers within weeks of the sale.”

The complaint also said that a letter from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights notified the university that victims of sexual assault are more likely to contemplate suicide, but the university failed to properly treat Singh.

“Arya had a variety of ongoing problems of which the university professors, police department, administrators and staff were well aware, or should have been, but failed to adequately address,” the complaint said. “Despite Arya’s problems, university employees’ conduct toward her was unsympathetic, hostile, and at times, vindictive.”

Both Cohen, and Andrew K. Garden of Conrad O’Brien, who is representing Amazon, did not return a call for comment. Jeremy D. Mishkin of Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads, who represents the University of Pennsylvania, declined to comment.

Photo by Robert Scoble, via Flickr

For more on this story go to: http://www.thelegalintelligencer.com/id=1202736265197/Suit-Against-Amazon-Over-Student-Suicide-Wont-Be-Arbitrated#ixzz3kgdr6Voi