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Yale Law student with psychiatric conditions denied anonymity in discrimination lawsuit

By Julianne Hill

April 24, 2026, 10:52 am CDT

A federal appeals court denied Monday a Yale Law School student’s request to proceed under a pseudonym in a lawsuit aiming to stop the school from discharging her.

The student who has psychiatric conditions filed as Jane Doe as she sued the university and administrators. She alleged discrimination in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act when Yale improperly refused to extend her JSD candidacy for an additional year and took action to discharge her from the program, according to the April 20 summary order by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at New York.

She then moved to permit using a pseudonym in the case, stating that revealing her name “would likely exacerbate her existing psychiatric conditions” and subject her to “stigma associated with mental health conditions” that could harm future job prospects, according to the case. But the district court in Connecticut had denied it, noting that it had taken stops to seal her private medical information.

On Monday, the appeals court judge found that the denial of Doe’s initial motion was correct because the appeal “largely relies on the new evidence attached to the motion for reconsideration.”

The case will move forward with the plaintiff’s name on record.

Bloomberg Law and Reason have additional coverage.

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