Post by tex on May 23, 2013 14:25:42 GMT -5
www.indystar.com/article/20130519/NEWS/305180070/National-frat-trial-Wabash-College-student-s-death
Written by
David Glovin
Bloomberg News
A national fraternity with chapters on more than 125 campuses must stand trial over the drinking death of a Wabash College freshman, an Indiana court said in a ruling that may force the organizations to take more responsibility for misconduct at chapter houses.
The Indiana Court of Appeals on May 8 reinstated a lawsuit against Delta Tau Delta by the family of Johnny Dupree Smith. The 18-year-old was found dead on Oct. 5, 2008, his blood-alcohol content five times the 0.08 blood-alcohol level at which a person is considered drunk in Indiana. Smith had passed out during “Pledge Family Drink Night,” according to the complaint in the wrongful-death case.
Many fraternities based in Indiana
The ruling is the first by an appellate court in Indiana, where many fraternities are based, that a national fraternity must face a trial for injury or death at a chapter house, said Stephen Wagner, a lawyer for Smith’s parents.
Unless reversed on appeal, the decision may compel national fraternities “to redouble their efforts to protect all their members” from injury, said Robert Heidt, who teaches negligence law at Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law in Bloomington. “If every court in the country did this, I bet it would change the structure of fraternities.”
The ruling comes as Greek life rebounds, with membership up 29 percent since 2005. Death and injury from fraternity-related hazing, drinking and partying also are climbing. Since 2005, at least 54 students nationwide have died and six were paralyzed in incidents connected with such activities, according to a Bloomberg analysis of lawsuits, news accounts and interviews.
Beset by lawsuits claiming negligent supervision, national fraternities have argued in court that they’re not responsible for misconduct at their local affiliates because they don’t actively supervise them. One fraternity lawyer told national groups that most state courts won’t hold them liable if they’re “predominantly passive” in their supervision of affiliates’ “daily activities.”
Written by
David Glovin
Bloomberg News
A national fraternity with chapters on more than 125 campuses must stand trial over the drinking death of a Wabash College freshman, an Indiana court said in a ruling that may force the organizations to take more responsibility for misconduct at chapter houses.
The Indiana Court of Appeals on May 8 reinstated a lawsuit against Delta Tau Delta by the family of Johnny Dupree Smith. The 18-year-old was found dead on Oct. 5, 2008, his blood-alcohol content five times the 0.08 blood-alcohol level at which a person is considered drunk in Indiana. Smith had passed out during “Pledge Family Drink Night,” according to the complaint in the wrongful-death case.
Many fraternities based in Indiana
The ruling is the first by an appellate court in Indiana, where many fraternities are based, that a national fraternity must face a trial for injury or death at a chapter house, said Stephen Wagner, a lawyer for Smith’s parents.
Unless reversed on appeal, the decision may compel national fraternities “to redouble their efforts to protect all their members” from injury, said Robert Heidt, who teaches negligence law at Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law in Bloomington. “If every court in the country did this, I bet it would change the structure of fraternities.”
The ruling comes as Greek life rebounds, with membership up 29 percent since 2005. Death and injury from fraternity-related hazing, drinking and partying also are climbing. Since 2005, at least 54 students nationwide have died and six were paralyzed in incidents connected with such activities, according to a Bloomberg analysis of lawsuits, news accounts and interviews.
Beset by lawsuits claiming negligent supervision, national fraternities have argued in court that they’re not responsible for misconduct at their local affiliates because they don’t actively supervise them. One fraternity lawyer told national groups that most state courts won’t hold them liable if they’re “predominantly passive” in their supervision of affiliates’ “daily activities.”
