A top university has been told to pay more than £50,000 in damages for discriminating against a student who killed herself.
Natasha Abrahart was crippled by shyness and anxiety at the prospect of making a big presentation of her work to a large group of other students at the University of Bristol.
The idea left her suicidal - and she told counsellors at Bristol University in 2018 that she feared she may take her own life if she had to do it, BristolLive reports.
Her parents fought back tears as they welcomed a judgement which said the university had broken disability discrimination laws in the way they treated the 20-year-old.
They said the university didn’t take her fears seriously enough, and threatened to mark her down if she didn’t do the presentation.
On the day Natasha was due to make the presentation in a 329-seat lecture theatre, her body was found in her home in Park Street, Bristol.
The judge in the case found the University of Bristol liable for multiple breaches of legal duties it owed to the 20-year-old in the lead up to her suicide in April 2018, and ordered that the University reimburse the family for the costs of her funeral, and award them £50,000 in damages.
Bristol University said it would take time to consider the verdict, and also said it could appeal against it, because of the 'significant impact' the judgement would have on the way universities support their students.
The second-year physics student, originally from Nottingham, had been diagnosed with chronic social anxiety disorder two months earlier.
She had been a high-achieving student in her second year, but at the start of that second year, in October 2017, academic staff became aware that she was struggling, experiencing anxiety and having panic attacks because part of her course involved her having to give a presentation to fellow students about her work.
The judge in the case said there was nothing in the course set-up which meant she had to give a face-to-face presentation to a large audience, and they could have let her present her work via text, recording or in writing.
Natasha’s parents, Dr Robert and Mrs Margaret Abrahart, brought the legal action against the university, saying they had failed to protect her and discriminated against her because of her disability.
In what the judge Alex Ralton described as a tragic case, he agreed, citing multiple times when the university had done so in a 46-page written judgement.
Dr Abrahart, standing next to his wife Margaret, struggled to read a prepared statement after the verdict was announced. “Today, 1,481 days after Natasha took her own life on the day of an assessment she simply couldn’t do, after years of protestations from the University that it did all it could to support her.
"After having battled our way through an inquest and a civil trial, we finally have the truth: The University of Bristol broke the law and exposed our daughter to months of wholly unnecessary psychological trauma, as she watched her grades plummet, and her hopes for the future crumble before her eyes,” he said.
Mrs Abrahart, a retired psychological wellbeing practitioner, added: “We really hope that the University of Bristol will finally take its head out of the sand and recognise that now is the time for change.
“We are ready to work with them to help ensure that the failings which led to Natasha’s death aren’t repeated so other families don’t have to suffer as we have suffered. We hope they will apologise for the role they played in Natasha’s death and will take us up on our offer of help,” she added.
The lawyer who acted for the Abrahart family said the judgement should be a ‘wake-up call’ to all higher education institutions.
“They have to ensure that they understand and comply with their duties under the Equality Act,” said Gus Silverman. “This means not assessing disabled students, including those disabled by mental illnesses, in the same way as students who don’t share their disability if such assessments put those students at a substantial disadvantage, unless there is a very good reason for doing so.
“This isn’t about giving disabled students an unfair advantage over their peers; it’s about levelling the playing field so that everyone has a chance to succeed. As Natasha’s case tragically illustrates, breaching the Equality Act is not only unlawful, it can also be fatal,” he added.
Natasha was under the care of Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership at the time of her death - that NHS Trust has already reached a settlement with the family and acknowledged the care it provided to Natasha was inadequate.
A University of Bristol spokesperson said: “Our whole university community has been deeply affected by Natasha’s tragic death and we would once again like to extend our sympathies to her friends and family.
“We believe staff in the School of Physics worked incredibly hard and diligently to support Natasha during her time with us, and it was due to their efforts that she was receiving specialist mental health support from the NHS.
"Our staff’s efforts also included offering alternative options for Natasha’s assessments to alleviate the anxiety she faced about presenting her laboratory findings to her peers. We are very grateful to them for their endeavours on Natasha’s behalf and for their unwavering commitment to our students.
“Given the significant impact this decision could have on how all higher education providers support their students, we are reviewing the decision carefully, including whether to appeal. In light of that review, it would not be appropriate to comment further on the judgment at the present time," they added.
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