PKPhi Natl. settles 2000 hazing death suit

[hoosier]

October 25, 2002

Heidemans settle suit with national fraternity


By TERRY VAU DELL - Staff Writer

OROVILLE, California - The family of Adrian Heideman has settled its lawsuit with the Chico fraternity where their underage son died in an alleged binge drinking initiation ritual in October 2000.

Edith Heideman, the 18-year-old freshman's mother, said Thursday the family brought the lawsuit against Pi Kappa Phi, "to keep Adrian's memory alive," and is now "relieved this is behind us."

However, she said she will continue to speak out at college campuses about the dangers of hazing and underage and binge drinking.

Neither side would disclose the terms of the out-of-court settlement, which was reached earlier this week less than a month before the civil case was scheduled to go to trial in Butte County Superior Court.

At one point, the deceased student's family had reportedly been seeking $5 million in damages against Pi Kappa Phi.

Michael G. Osborne, attorney for the fraternity, would only say that amount was "rejected" and that he felt the ultimate resolution was fair to all parties."

Motivating the fraternity to settle the case, he added, was the "expense and uncertainty of a jury trial."

Edith Heideman said the family has a "definite understanding (with) the national fraternity that greater measures will be taken to prevent this kind of death ever happening again."

However, neither she nor Pi Kappa Phi will say whether that was made part of the settlement resolving the case.

Chico State University President Manuel Esteban said the settlement will have an impact but the money is not the key.

"No amount of money can ever make up for the loss of a child, whether is it half a million, a million or 10 million dollars," said the president.

He said the settlement could make an impact on the Greek community both locally and nationally.

"It should send a message to every fraternity, and every member of a fraternity and sorority that there are consequences to their acts.

"Hopefully, the Greek community will take it to heart and change their behavior," continued Esteban.

Osborne noted that since the Chico State freshman's death, the national fraternity has been involved in an "educational campaign" among its more than 100 local chapters, which includes playing the dramatic 9-1-1 police tape of fraternity brothers finding Heideman's body after he passed out and was left in a basement room at the chapter's house on Rio Chico Way.

An autopsy later showed that he had choked to death on his own vomit after consuming a bottle of blackberry brandy at a "Big Brother" initiation party with nearly two dozen other fraternity pledges.

The suit charged the freshman was forced to binge drink as part of a fraternity hazing ritual and was left alone to die while fraternity brothers were upstairs watching strippers hired for the evening.

In the wake of Heideman's death, the Chico Pi Kappa Phi chapter was dissolved and three fraternity officers received 30-day jail terms after pleading no contest to criminal charges in the case.

Earlier this year, they and five other fraternity members agreed to pay out a total of $500,000 in damages to the Heideman family to settle their portion of the civil case.

The suit against the national fraternity was resolved before a local judge could rule on defense motions brought this summer seeking to dismiss the civil action.

The North Carolina-based fraternity had argued the 18-year-old student was to blame for his own drinking-related death and that in any event the fraternal organization couldn't be expected to "supervise the day-to-day activities of a local fraternity house 3,000 miles away."

The Chico Pi Kappa Phi chapter asserted it couldn't be sued because its charter has been revoked and it no longer exists.

Calling those arguments "nonsense," lawyers for Heideman's parents had countered in court papers there was "ample evidence" from which a jury could conclude that Pi Kappa Phi was "fully aware of the risks to Adrian and had the legal power to prevent those risks ... (but) made a conscious decision not to do so."

Alex Grab, the Heideman's San Francisco attorney, said Thursday had the case gone to trial, he was prepared to put on evidence of four other "alcohol-related" deaths involving the same fraternity.

But he felt the lawsuit has served its purpose.

Because of the widespread publicity, the Heideman family was "allowed to tell their story about how their son died," the family's attorney noted.

Reached at her Palo Alto home, the deceased student's mother said that essentially "moving our three daughters up to Butte County for a three-month trial would have been difficult.

"This (settlement) is absolutely not about money," she insisted. "Someone needs to be held morally accountable. This is about honoring the memory of my son to keep this from ever happening again. This is a wake-up call," said Edith Heideman.

The family attorney pointed out in a written statement Thursday that the Chico freshman's death "prompted the California State University system to implement new policies to curb alcohol abuse on its campuses and sparked nation-wide interest in combating excessive drinking on college campuses."

Heideman mother vowed to "continue to speak out at college campuses.

"I tell them that you do not need to drink to prove you're a man, to drink responsibly and never leave your buddy alone, she said.

"I want Adrian to never be forgotten."