Still in its initial stages, the suit alleges that Amherst was negligent in its attendance to safety precautions.
"They claim no responsibility for that night, and that's why we're taking them to court," Lee said. "Whether or not it will actually go to trial, who knows? They may want to settle."
Normally, the well is covered by a heavy-duty metal grate, but sometime that night a portion of it had been removed to leave the corner exposed.
Physical Plant conducted an investigation into the matter, but Director of Facilities Planning and Management James Brassord declined to share its findings.
"While the College places the utmost emphasis and priority on creating a safe environment for the campus community, it would be inappropriate for me to comment on a pending legal matter," Brassord said.
Immediately after the incident, Brassord said that the school had been following its usual safety procedures.
"We have knowledge that grates were all in place prior to the event," Brassord told The Student at the time.
Brassord added that the weight of the "heavy, immovable" grates was designed as a protective device.
"It would have to take a concerted effort on somebody's behalf to move it," Brassord said in December of 1999, though he would not speculate on who might have done so.
Lee contends that the College should have done more to insure that safeguards remained in place and that movement near the well would not result in injury.
"The issue is that they're claiming that because it never happened before, it's unlikely that something like this could happen," he said. "They're basically saying it wouldn't happen because there's no precedent. But you can't assess future damage without taking into account possible damage that the present situation would entail."
Following the incident, Lee sought legal counsel at the law offices of Allison and Bartmon in Amherst.
"My decision to file a suit was recent, but I've been seeing and talking to my lawyer since January, 2000," Lee said. "I just wanted to see what my options were. Amherst was making no effort to say, 'I'm sorry this happened,' and I just wanted to know what to do."
Lee's lawyer, Sarah Dolven, declined to comment on the case. Lee did say that progress thus far has been "pretty slow. A lot of it is just writing letters back and forth."
One pivotal piece of correspondence was a demand letter from Lee's side, requesting monetary compensation and "basically asking the school to take responsibility for what they did," Lee said. Though, he did not elaborate on the specifics of the letter, including the amount of money in question, Lee did say that the school refused to pay.
The well is located on the southwest side of the Campus Center near the steps leading out from Schwemm's Coffee House.
In order to pull Lee from the hole, emergency personnel from the Town Fire Department performed a technical rescue using a rope and harness.