Maharishi University settles lawsuit
By:
01/09/2009
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A federal lawsuit over the stabbing death of an 18-year-old student at
the hands of another student at Maharishi University of Management is
expected to be settled today.
Levi Butler was stabbed to death in the dining hall of the
Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield on March 1, 2004, by
fellow student Shuvender Sem.
Sem, who had attacked another student earlier the same day, was
later found not guilty by reason of insanity.
The federal lawsuit filed in February 2006 on behalf of Butler's
estate accused the school, founded by Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh
Yogi and requiring Transcendental Meditation twice a day, of gross
negligence for not preventing the student's death.
Steve Eckley, an attorney representing the estate, said Butler's
family was satisfied with the settlement, which was reached late
Wednesday and is expected to be finalized today. He said the terms of
the agreement were confidential.
"I think this is a good settlement for both sides," he said. "I
think it was in the university's best interest to do this, and I think
it was in the best interest of the estate as well."
The decision to accept the offer made by the university and its
insurance company came from the estate's representative Josh Butler, a
sibling of the victim. An attorney for the estate said an official
with the university's insurance company must still approve the settlement.
Trial in the case had been scheduled to begin Monday in U.S.
District Court in Des Moines.
In the lawsuit, Butler's estate said the 24-year-old Sem, of
Lancaster, Pa., was a paranoid schizophrenic and had a long history of
violent assault. It noted that the same day Butler was killed, Sem
attacked another student, John Killian, by stabbing him in the face
and throat with a pen.
The lawsuit accuses staff members at the school of telling
Killian that the attack happened because Sem wasn't meditating
properly, and that they decided not to arrange a psychiatric
evaluation for Sem.
