Hazing/boozing lawsuits: Big settlements listed
 

September 23, 2004
Millions paid in hazing lawsuits


By Dave Curtin
Denver Post Staff Writer




Families of students who die after drinking at fraternity events have collected millions of dollars in wrongful-death lawsuits from the fraternities and their members.

Occasionally, a university is held liable and tagged with a multimillion-dollar settlement.

Police announced Wednesday that University of Colorado student Lynn Gordon Bailey Jr., 18, a pledge at Chi Psi, was part of an initiation ritual involving alcohol in the hours before he was found dead in the Boulder fraternity house Friday.

"My best guess is that the university would have no liability, period," said University of Denver law professor Tom Russell who teaches tort issues. "The fraternity is a private institution that is not controlled by the university. On the other hand, the fraternity itself faces substantial liability."
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In February, a Miami-Dade County jury awarded $14 million to the parents of a drunken University of Miami freshman who drowned swimming across a lake in a Kappa Sigma hazing.

The jury found two fraternity brothers 90 percent at fault. The parents are trying to collect from the insurance policy of the fraternity and from the homeowner's policies of the fraternity brothers' parents.

"Typically a fraternity has insurance to cover such injuries, but the insurance policy may exclude coverage of illegal activities which would include serving alcohol to minors," Russell said. "If the insurance won't provide coverage, then each member of the fraternity and possibly their parents would be likely defendants."

That's exactly what happened at California State University- Chico in 2002, where eight Pi Kappa Phi fraternity brothers agreed to pay a combined $500,000 settlement in the drinking death of a freshman after an initiation ceremony.

But the university can find itself settling suits. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology agreed to pay a family $4.75 million and establish a $1.25 million scholarship fund in a settlement following the 1997 drinking death of a freshman during a Phi Gamma Delta hazing.

MIT had argued that the university cannot be held responsible for the actions of students in privately owned houses such as fraternity houses. "We cannot monitor a student's behavior 24 hours a day," Rosalind H. Williams, the school's dean of students said at the time.

In another case, Iona College in New Rochelle, N.Y., was dismissed from a $21 million lawsuit in 2000 in the alcohol-hazing death of a student. "The law is very clear: When you're in college, you must own up to your own actions," Iona attorney Anthony Dougherty told the New York Post.

Staff writer Dave Curtin can be reached at 303-820-1276 or at dcurtin@denverpost.com .

Nothing here that hasn't been said before...

It is too bad that folks who are supposed to be adults don't take into account the potential position they put not only themselves but their Chapter, Nationals, advisors, school and even potentially their parents in.

Being found liable can ruin a whole lot of lives.

True, but what liability education do new members get? I certainly never got any as a new member. It was only as an officer and now as an alumna that I have any clue. Maybe liability education is in order for chapters as a whole.

I can't say that it always happens, but there is supposed to be a Risk Management discussion at Chapter in every Delt chapter every year.

And each Delt Chapter should have a Risk Management chairman, who should report at every meeting.

Sounds good on paper, anyway.

We hold a mandatory session where we review our risk management policy every semester with our actives.

Also, we deal with any even near violations pretty severely.

It's worked so far :D

I applaud both the Delts and Sigma Nus for their education efforts. :D
I honestly don't know what education is out there for different organizations. I just know that it was something that was not viewed with much seriousness on my campus. I am fairly certain there were a number of orgs where I was an undergrad that do no liability education. Not risk management per se, but who is liable and why. I realize that liability and risk management go hand in hand and that risk management goes beyond liability, but often, the risk management that was thought of on my campus never had anything to do with liability and suing and lawyers - it had more to do with what actions an org took that would result in disciplinary action from the school.

I think that two things happen which interfere with the education of liability at the chapter level. First is the "It won't happen to me" focus of older adolescents and young adults. Second is selective hearing. It is not what they want to hear, so they don't hear it.

Dee

Yep. Sometimes until it's too late.

LXA is deat on Rish Management for sure.

If it comes to light with International they are visited and told no way, give seminars and placed on probation until they have proven themselves. If not, simple Charter is take and they are out of business. Period.

Unfortunatly ASU found that out two years after the fact and supposedly trying to get things back on an even keel.:(

No matter what Risk management is in GreekDom Lives and it costs each Greek Organization a lot of money that can be spent on other things.