Hazing victim asks court to release information on fraternity initiation

[UDZETA]

Phi Beta Sigma fraternity hazing victim Roderick Perrymond, a former University of Georgia student, is asking a court to require the fraternity to disclose information about its initiation rituals.
According to papers filed with State Court in Clarke County, the fraternity is willing to disclose the information to Perrymond's attorney, Troy Gay of Norcross. But the fraternity is asking Judge Kent Lawrence to sign a protective order limiting that disclosure to Gay and other members of Perrymond's defense team.
The fraternity's lawyers say their request for a protective order is based on a concern that Gay might disseminate information to the media.
"The only use (of the information) outside of the boundaries of this litigation . . . is dissemination to the news media for the purpose of creating sympathy" for Perrymond, attorneys argue in a recent brief.
Lawrence has scheduled a May 28 hearing on the issue.
Perrymond, who suffered bruised buttocks and torn blood vessels during a severe paddling last September, is suing the fraternity's national and local organizations for unspecified monetary damages. Also named as defendants are fraternity adviser Thomas Stevens and members Zatara Howard and Kevin Welch.
Lawyers for the fraternity contend that Georgia law protecting corporate secrets can also be applied to the fraternity and its initiation rituals. Phi Beta Sigma was formed in Washington, D.C., in 1914, and was incorporated there six years later.
In a response, Gay contends that the fraternity's request for a protective order is "a stalling tactic and a strategy not to produce information and documents central to this litigation."
Stevens contends in recently filed papers that Perrymond elected to be paddled rather than to leave the off-campus apartment where a number of fraternity members and pledges had gathered on the evening of Sept. 8.
According to the filing, Perrymond "decided that he would not leave the apartment and that he would be paddled in lieu of leaving."