PhD student terminated because of mental illness
This question is related to my brother’s experience. He was a PhD student in the US. During his PhD, a little over a year ago, he was hospitalized with his first episode of mental illness. His advisor immediately terminated his employment telling me that my brother was not fit to do a PhD in his lab. He further told me that he had worked with a mentally ill student in the past and it was a mistake and he cannot repeat the same mistake with my brother. While it hurt to hear that, I didn’t think much about the termination at that time as my first priority was helping with my brother’s treatment and getting him back on his feet. He had to leave the country since he could not be on a student visa without employment and he has been staying at home since. The drastic life change and not having an independent source of income have been stressing him out and he recently had his second episode. The diagnosis ultimately given was bipolar 1. I know this is a complicated situation but am I crazy in thinking that the professor discriminated against my brother? My brother is not a US citizen and is living outside the US now but is there a legal course we can follow? This has been an excruciating experience for our family and any help is greatly appreciated.
What school
If he is a physical risk to others then termination is justified.
He was not a physical risk atleast according to the doctors.
Such a tough situation. On the one hand i do feel he was discriminated, but on the other hand I saw a lot of people with depression during my phd and I was also barely able to handle the stress. The suicide rates of people doing phds are huge (google it) and in many cases the amount of pressure does not justify the potential gains.
That’s what I used to think until I framed it this way: yes a PhD may be stressful but is that sufficient grounds for an advisor to terminate a student based on his own judgment and not on that of a mental health professional?
That's a great point. It is not for the advisor to tell.
What are you hoping to gain by pursuing legal actions? afaik, legally the professor cant fired him. The right course of action would have him giving your brother disability leave under FMLA (google this). Unsure if the same applies to legal immigrants but that’s how it’s supposed to work for citizens at least.
Why could not he get a job in his home country?
His PhD is in a niche engineering field and our family lives in a small town. No one needs his skills there.
Sorry to hear that. The advisor can choose to keep whoever they see fit. I hope your brother was given enough time to move out of the program. I wonder if it isbpossible tonfreeze the student status and go back in in the future.
The adviser can't violate the ADA if the program receives any federal funds at all, such as research grants. There is legal precedent for this.
hmm didn't think of that. I don't know if ADA applies here. But I've heard similar stories from top schools. I don't think this guy is the first.
Get a lawyer in disability law and sue this guy's ass, and the school. Unless your brother's mental health condition was something toxic like borderline, it was not a legitimate reason for getting kicked out, and was probably exacerbated by the working conditions and how the professor runs his lab. There is too little accountability for professors like this and legal action is probably the only thing that will ever set a standard for how mental health issues among grad students are dealt with in high stress disciplines.
The condition was definitely not toxic. He was a great student. His grades were perfect, his research was going great, he was very punctual and never created any trouble. The illness started almost overnight and he was in the hospital before anyone knew. Suing the prof is one option but I am afraid that would be too harsh on him (I understand what he did was pretty scummy but he might lose his job and the other students under him will also suffer). Is there a way I can get the university to pay?
Any lawsuits will involve the professor. It is just a matter do you want to sue or not.
Very sorry to hear this. Your brother should probably not live away from family. PhD is stressful even for students with perfect mental health. He needs a strong support support system (family, friends, girlfriend) around himself. Never fuck with mental health, in the long run career and education isn’t that important! Source: Went to a top school famous for PhD students killing themselves :(
Yeah it’s important. Stay healthy mind body and soul. You think you’re not doing well, until you don’t have your health.
You realize that professor could have allowed to continue just few more months and fail him on qualifying exam. Unfortunate, but there is no way you can win.
It’s not about winning in the sense that he should be allowed to do the PhD. I am more interested in suing.
Sad to hear this, I hope you get proper guidance!