PC appeals court order in student death

PROVIDENCE—Providence College is asking Rhode Island’s top court to reverse a decision ordering the school to turn over documents related to the death of a student.

The school was ordered by a judge last month to hand over documents related to the death of 19-year-old John D. Langley of Walpole, Mass. in December 2002. Langley died after falling off the roof of a four-story dormitory.

Langley’s father, John E. Langley Jr., accuses the school in a wrongful death suit of failing to take proper safety precautions.

In her ruling, Judge Patricia Hurst said school officials engaged in a pattern of evasion and obstruction.

School lawyers have appealed Hurst’s decision to the state Supreme Court, claiming if the decision stands, it would “rock the corporate world” by breaking down attorney-client privilege.