A Minnesota woman is suing after she says the university she attended failed to help her while she lay dying in her student apartment, according to a lawsuit.

Genevieve Lizotte was a student at the University of Minnesota. She lived in student housing at Radius Apartments in Minneapolis, according to a lawsuit filed Jan. 17 against the University of Minnesota and Hart Radius LLC.

On March 31, Lizotte had a major knee surgery. After the surgery, she went back to her apartment to recover, according to court documents.

By April 23, Lizotte became ill from the surgery. She called the community advisor of her apartment building at 2:30 a.m. after she fell and couldn’t get up, the lawsuit said.

“Please help me,” she told the advisor, according to the lawsuit.

The community advisor went to Lizotte’s room and knocked, but the advisor left when no one answered, the lawsuit said.

Lizotte’s family reached out to the community advisor later that day when they became worried after they couldn’t get a hold of her, the lawsuit said.

“Yeah, she called last night at 2:30 a.m. saying she had fallen and asking for water, but she didn’t answer her door, so I left. We haven’t heard anything more,” the advisor told her family, according to the lawsuit.

Lizotte’s family became worried and called law enforcement.

Authorities went to Lizotte’s apartment and found her on the bathroom floor, 16 hours after she called for help, the lawsuit said. She was “unresponsive, having a seizure, barely alive, in a pool of blood, and with a fever of 106 degrees,” according to court documents.

She was rushed to a hospital where she fell into a coma. Her family was told, “it’s not good, we are not sure she will make it as she is very, very sick,” the lawsuit said.

Lizotte remained in a coma for a week, while the infection impacted her lungs, heart and brain, according to the lawsuit. Her family was repeatedly told she may not live.

The lawsuit says as part of the University of Minnesota’s Housing and Residential Life’s Community Behavioral Standards, students are told to alert the community advisor on duty if a student is in need of medical care.

There are also signs posted in the building that say staff is available 24/7, and there is a community advisor on duty all night to “respond to emergencies/crisis issues or wellness concerns.”

Lizotte says in the lawsuit the advisor and university failed to uphold these standards when her call for help went unanswered, which allowed the infection to spread and left her nearly dead.

The lawsuit says that months later she was “subjected to hostile” treatment by the same community advisor who “left her lying on her floor near death.”

Response

In an answer filed by Hart Radius LLC, the company denies the allegations made against it in the lawsuit.

It says it did not fail to provide aid to Lizotte and that is not liable for any injuries Lizotte sustained.

“Any injuries or damages sustained by (Lizotte) was caused by her own fault, and as such, her claims may be barred by contributory negligence,” the court document said.

McClatchy News reached out to the University of Minnesota and Hart Radius LLC for comment but did not immediately hear back.

The lawsuit is seeking $50,000 in damages.

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