New York City-based Hunter College filed a lawsuit against Derek DeFreitas, RN, forcing him to vacate the university residence hall he has allegedly used as a "crash pad" since 1980, according to New York 4 News.
Here are four things to know about the case.
1. According to the lawsuit, obtained by the New York Post, Mr. DeFreitas, 67, has a permanent residence, but has maintained a dormitory room "crash pad" at the Brookdale Residence Hall since 1980. The residence hall belongs to the Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing, part of the City University of New York.
"[Mr.] DeFreitas refuses to leave his dormitory originally provided to him and other[s] under a long-discontinued program dating to the 1960s that reserved a certain number of rooms for active Bellevue nurses," the lawsuit alleges.
2. Mr. DeFreitas was one of an estimated 30 nurses who participated in the program and had reportedly been living at the dorm. The college has reportedly vacated 21 of the 30 individuals, according to New York 4 News.
3. Hunter College states in the lawsuit the institution need only provide Mr. DeFreitas 30 days' notice to terminate his month-to-month housing arrangement. The college contended in the lawsuit the nurses' evictions were necessary to make room for students, and has asked a judge to issue an order directing a city sheriff to "eject [Mr. DeFreitas] from the dorm room," according to the New York Post.
4. Mr. DeFreitas said he moved out of the dorm room within the last few weeks, but claimed he has a "contractual right to stay in his dorm room indefinitely," according to New York 4 News.
Editor's note: Becker's Hospital Review reached out to Hunter College for comment and will update the article as more information becomes available.