Yale fraternity sued over death.

[Psi U MC Vito]

Originally Posted by tuco99

Then why do you "doubt" they were sued?

Because he isn't involved with the case, and thus doesn't know all the details. It's entirely possible to name somebody in a lawsuit that isn't legally liable, which might be the case here.

"It's our claim that what happened at Yale two years ago was very clearly, definitively and obviously a Sigma Phi Epsilon-sponsored fraternity event."

I thought that was a very interesting comment to be made. The question I have though, is can individual members of a voluntary organization generally be found liable for the actions of one person, even if that one person was acting as an agent of the organization as a whole?

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by Psi U MC Vito

It's entirely possible to name somebody in a lawsuit that isn't legally liable, which might be the case here.

That would make sense if the "chapter" is named in the lawsuit (similar to when lawsuits against (inter)national bodies impact chapters).

That would probably not be the case if individual members (the 86 past and current at the time of the incident) are named in the lawsuit.

[KDCat]

Originally Posted by Psi U MC Vito

Because he isn't involved with the case, and thus doesn't know all the details. It's entirely possible to name somebody in a lawsuit that isn't legally liable, which might be the case here.


I thought that was a very interesting comment to be made. The question I have though, is can individual members of a voluntary organization generally be found liable for the actions of one person, even if that one person was acting as an agent of the organization as a whole?

Under some theories, yes. The simplest theory to get to the whole group would be if the whole group of defendants had an agreement/policy to bring beer to the tailgate. Then the individual member is acting as an agent of the whole group and they are liable for his actions.

[Psi U MC Vito]

Originally Posted by KDCat

Under some theories, yes. The simplest theory to get to the whole group would be if the whole group of defendants had an agreement/policy to bring beer to the tailgate. Then the individual member is acting as an agent of the whole group and they are liable for his actions.

Thank you. We didn't really talk about joint liability except in very very general term in Torts.