Lawsuits against GLOs involving alcohol

[texas*princess]

I have a question here that maybe some of you GC'ers could answer. There has been a whole bunch of 'wrongful death' suits against GLO's that involve alcohol, so my question is this:

Why are the GLO's always seen as the reason their loved one died?

I don't neccessarily mean this in a terrible way, but unless the GLO forced them to drink all the alcohol, how can they be responsible?

I guess I could understand the whole idea if they were under 21 and 'served' alcohol and forced it on the member, but what if they weren't 21, still had access to alcohol and drank it on their own free will?

Does this all depend on the GLO's Risk Management guidelines? I am a little bit confused here?

[Kevin]

Our risk management policies are actually pretty good. Do they work 100% of the time? Nope.

Where the real problem lies is execution. Our undergrad members may understand what the rules are. However, to understand things and execute them are two completely different things.

It's one thing to have a policy of not serving underage people alcohol, it's another to tell an organization that has been doing it for decades that it must now enforce that policy.

[DeltAlum]

This was just posted on Fraternity/Sorority News Today:

Date: Thu, 29 May 2003 08:01:31 -0700
From: Fraternity/Sorority Newsclips <Doug.Case@cox.net>
Subject: Parents sue UW fraternity, say focus on alcohol led to son's death

Seattle Post-Intelligencer
May 29, 2003

Parents sue UW fraternity, say focus on alcohol led to son's death

By TRACY JOHNSON
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

The parents of a 19-year-old University of Washington student are
suing his fraternity, blaming his death on an atmosphere of flowing
alcohol and a party game that meant gulping 100 shots of beer.

Brett Jensen died last year after falling 30 feet from a deck at his
fraternity house, Pi Kappa Phi, which allegedly threw a drinking bash
that night.

His parents, Don and Janice Jensen of Everett, filed a wrongful-death
suit this week in King County Superior Court and seek unspecified
damages. But they said what they really want is for their son's
fraternity -- and all others -- to shift the focus of social
gatherings away from booze, particularly when many of the members are
underage.

"We're hoping that no other family has to go through the grief and
the horrible hell that we've gone through," Don Jensen said
yesterday. "It's the culture, the system, that needs changing."

Just after midnight May 7, Brett Jensen was found lying next to the
Pi Kappa Phi fraternity house with a severe head injury. He had
somehow toppled from a deck that was surrounded by a 3-foot-high
wooden railing.

No one saw it happen, police said at the time.

He had been playing a game at his fraternity that night called
"Century Club," which requires everyone to drink a shot of beer every
minute for 100 minutes, according to the lawsuit.

The Jensens and their attorney, Mark Johnson, acknowledge that Brett
Jensen made the decision to drink. But they contend that his
fraternity constantly made alcohol available and encouraged members
to partake -- and did nothing to make sure they stayed safe when
their judgment was impaired.

"As long as they continue to make alcohol the center of the
fraternity functions, these kinds of things are going to occur,"
Johnson said.

Don Jensen would like to see fraternity houses mimic sororities by
banning alcohol altogether, making a fundamental -- if unpopular --
change to the Greek system.

His son's fraternity held parties such as "Big Bro Night," during
which older members set out to get the new members drunk or played a
game that required teams to down a gallon of cocktails quicker than
everyone else, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit names as defendants the Pi Kappa Phi national and
Washington chapters, the fraternity alumni association and two
fraternity house officials. Mark Timmes, the chief executive of the
fraternity's national chapter in North Carolina, said last night that
he had not seen the lawsuit and could not discuss the accident. He
said only that "it was a horrible, horrible tragedy, and our hearts
and prayers remain with the Jensen family."

Mike Podobnik, president of the Washington chapter, said he couldn't comment.

Brett Jensen had been a standout student. He was his class president
every year from seventh to 11th grades and graduated from Cascade
High School in Everett -- where his father is a counselor -- as
valedictorian with a 4.0 grade-point average.

He was offered numerous scholarships and was attending the University
of Washington on a full ride, according to court documents.

His family learned of his death in an early-morning phone call,
prompting a confused drive to Harborview Medical Center.

Don Jensen remembers how the hospital lobby was brimming with his
son's friends. And he remembers how hospital staff gently told them
that they had done all they could.

"We relive that night over and over again. We still can't make sense
out of it," he said. "We didn't even get a chance to say goodbye."

[33girl]

Well OK....following those lines, wasn't there a suit against MIT or Harvard (I forget which) that said the immense pressure led the plaintiffs' son to commit suicide? How did that work out?

I mean, to me, that sounds like the same logic as the "McDonald's made me obese" argument.

[Tom Earp]

DeltaAlum, I was going to post that when I got home tonight. Thanx for doing it first.

It sounds like when I talked with you today, you had more time on hands than I did! Never fails, get on L D and get busy!

In answer to the afore question, yes, most of the suits are alchol related. Why should this be? We are Social Greek Organizations. But the Ghost of Risk Management has become a bodily function.

In this day, everyone sues for something, and sues any/everybody who has any form of contact with the situation no matter what! In many cases there are so many friviouls law suits being filed is mind boggleing and not to be beleived!

Of cours, it is always so sad to all of us in the Greek Coummity no matter what Orgnization we belong to lose a member.

It has been said on another thread, that yes law suits can put the Entire Greek Org. style of life in jeapordy.

I dont feel that is to far fetched as these suits are for millions of $$$!