Fraternities should not be held responsible for individual accidents - Cavalier Daily

An interesting opinion piece in the University of Virginia student paper.

"...as is often the case, missteps by one particular person or chapter increase hostility against fraternities nationwide. Other organizations do not face the same backlash."

The Cavalier Daily :: YAHANDA: Brotherly hate:

Fraternities should not be held responsible for individual accidents
by Alex Yahanda | Jan 21 14

News about Greek organizations generally focuses on what chapters do to get in trouble (search “fraternity” on Google news and the results are mostly negative). This disproportionately gloomy reporting reflects poorly on the chapters’ schools, which in turn leads to punishments that are system-wide overreactions to the conduct of individual houses. Last week, another nationwide news story broke in which a fraternity is being punished unfairly.

According to the Yale Daily News, 86 members of the school’s Sigma Phi Epsilon — nicknamed Sig Ep — chapter are being sued over an incident that occurred in 2011 at a Harvard-Yale football game. Before that game, a former student, Brendan Ross, struck three women with a U-Haul truck that he was driving to the fraternity’s tailgating location. One woman, Nancy Barry, was killed, and the other two were injured. But despite the fact that only one student caused the accident, an excessive number of brothers are now facing legal action.

Many writers whose articles were published last week took note of the fact that Sig Ep’s national chapter has distanced itself from its Yale unit. Its insurance does not cover actions that go against the national fraternity’s policies. Typically, a fraternity’s national organization is able to serve as a safety net to help members of chapters that finds themselves in trouble. With the liability that accompanies fraternities these days, though, it is not surprising that national organizations are hesitant to provide comprehensive insurance for chapters, preferring to save time and money by distancing themselves from those chapters that have participated in illicit activities. In reality, the Sig Ep national’s inaction is not particularly newsworthy. There are two larger injustices that occurred as a result of the U-Haul accident.

The first injustice is that 85 of Ross’ fellow Sig Ep brothers — a group including both former and current students — are now being implicated in a wrongful death suit. Barry’s death was unquestionably tragic. It could have been avoided had Ross been a more responsible driver. Ross deserves to face any appropriate consequences for his actions, and the victims of the accident should receive proper restitution. Implicating an entire fraternity as accomplices in the accident, however, is unfair. Ross alone was directly responsible for what occurred. Though he was driving fraternity supplies to a fraternity-sponsored event, the other fraternity members neither enabled the accident to occur nor should be held responsible for the consequences of Ross’ negligence. Members who were not even present at the tailgate have been swept up by the lawsuit simply for being in the same chapter. This kind of widespread punishment is entirely unreasonable, as there is nothing the fraternity as a whole did that was inherently wrong, irresponsible or worthy of mass legal action.

The second injustice is more glaring: Ross’ record does not reflect any sort of wrongdoing. After pleading guilty to two relatively small driving infractions, he was sentenced to enter a probation program. Four hundred hours of community service later, Ross emerged with no marks on his criminal history.

The Connecticut justice system should be receiving more anger than Yale’s Sig Ep chapter. To be sure, Ross’ life will not return to how it was before the accident. He will forever be associated with Barry’s death. But it makes little sense when someone can kill a person, injure two others and receive no real punishment, even if the event was accidental. Ross was fortunate in a way that other people may not be. His charges were downgraded so that he could benefit from the probation program. Barry’s family also agreed that the probationary program was adequate punishment, as Ross was apparently a good kid who felt “appropriately remorseful.” Despite the agreement between both sides, Ross’ record deserves some blemish. One should not be able to go from negligent homicide with a motor vehicle to community service that easily — and that should be the primary message of Ross’ accident.

Yet the U-Haul misfortune, just because it is associated with a fraternity, will augment anti-Greek sentiments throughout the country. The vast majority of drivers who kill or injure people every year are not associated with Greek life. But, as is often the case, missteps by one particular person or chapter increase hostility against fraternities nationwide. Other organizations do not face the same backlash. During my first year, for instance, a University student in my dorm was hit by a Safe Ride van. There was no national outrage at the University or the Safe Ride program for that accident, and it would have been absurd for that student to consider the entire Safe Ride program to be of lesser value because of the actions of one driver. The same idea holds for Ross’ situation. Nothing about being in a fraternity significantly influenced his accident — his job in the fraternity was to drive the truck, but the other brothers did not cause him to crash it. Individually suing Ross makes sense, but it is not necessary to blame Barry’s death on all 86 members of his fraternity.

Alex Yahanda is a senior associate editor for The Cavalier Daily.

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SigEp Headquarters Message regarding news coverage of Yale incident

This email was sent out today from SigEp Headquarters regarding the news earlier this week that 86 members of the Yale Chapter have been named in a lawsuit.

There was also a Press Release.

Email - Message regarding news coverage of Yale incident - Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity:

Dear Brothers and Friends, I am writing you in response to several news stories that have been published regarding members of our Yale chapter and the support our Fraternity has provided them in response to a recent lawsuit. Following an on-campus accident that occurred more than two years ago, lawyers recently filed suit against our Yale chapter as well as individual members. Contrary to recent media reports, the Fraternity has taken every possible action to procure coverage for our brothers at Yale by our insurance provider and provide the legal representation they need to be rightfully dismissed from this litigation. It is important to me that you know our brothers at Yale are protected and supported. The following press release was issued this morning in response to statements that SigEp was not providing support and coverage for our Yale members. If you have any questions about SigEp's risk management policies or our general liability insurance, please contact SigEp's risk management director,Kathy Johnston. Fraternally, Brian C. Warren Jr. Chief Executive Officer

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86 Sig Ep members sued over 2011 tailgate

An interesting way to attempt to recover damages from a chapter - suing each member individually. I have no comment on the facts of the case as I was not there. I would, however, like to see some commentary from the legal community about the reasoning, chance of success, and possible effect of this strategy. To my layman's eye it looks like some innocent members of the chapter could be subject to a civil and financial penalty simply because of  'guilt by association.' There is also the question of why the insurance coverage chapters must purchase does not apply in this case.

Update: SigEp Headquarters has issued a statement clarifying their support of the Yale chapter.
Also see this later blog post.

86 Sig Ep members sued over 2011 tailgate | Yale Daily News:

Eighty-six current and former members of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity at Yale are the targets of two new lawsuits over a fatal collision at the 2011 Harvard-Yale tailgate that left one woman dead and two others injured.

Thirty-year-old Nancy Barry, of Salem, Mass., was killed in November 2011 when a U-Haul truck driven by Brendan Ross ’13 — heading toward the tailgate area assigned to the fraternity at the Yale Bowl — accelerated and swerved out of control. Sarah Short SOM ’13 and Harvard employee Elizabeth Dernbach were also injured.

Last month, Short and Barry’s estate filed new suits, identical but separate, individually naming all the students who were members of the Yale chapter of the fraternity at the time of the crash, regardless of whether or not they were present at the tailgate. With Short’s medical expenses exceeding $300,000, Short’s attorney Joel Faxon said he expects a jury to award a sum to Short reaching into seven figures. Paul Edwards, who represents Barry’s estate, said he is looking to recover several million dollars over the death.

The new lawsuit, filed in Connecticut Superior Court in New Haven, is a result of a unique relationship between the national Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and the local Yale chapter.

According to Faxon, although Short initially sued the national Sig Ep fraternity in 2012, University Director of Risk Management Kathy Johnston said in a deposition that, legally, the local chapter and national association have nothing to do with each other. Furthermore, the national fraternity’s insurance — Liberty Mutual of Boston — does not cover actions by the local chapter, leading Short to sue the local chapter itself.

“[The national fraternity and its insurance], to try to save money, are trying to distance themselves from the case,” Faxon said. “[The local chapter] has been thrown under the bus … by the national fraternity, so the only remedy that our client has is to sue the local fraternity.”

Faxon said that in his 20 years of litigation, he has never seen such an arrangement, as national fraternities typically come to the aid of their local chapters. Because of Connecticut law, which defines the chapter as a voluntary association, the chapter can only be sued by way of its individual members.

Seven current and former members of the fraternity declined to comment on the case. Several others did not respond to requests for comment. Johnston also did not respond to request for comment.

“I have no doubt that each and every one of [the members in 2011], in paying dues to the national organization, had an expectation that the national organization was going to get them the insurance coverage they needed and was going to stand with them,” Edwards said.

According to documents filed in Connecticut Superior Court Monday, 84 of the defendants are now represented by Jeremy Platek, an attorney based in White Plains, N.Y.

Edwards said Platek’s representation of the defendants is likely a sign that the national fraternity is beginning to take greater responsibility for the case.

“I would be surprised if all the fraternity members had collectively gotten together and decided to hire one lawyer on such short notice,” Edwards said. “The odds are very high that he was appointed to represent them by the national fraternity.”

Attorney Eric Smith, a colleague of Faxon’s who is also working on the case, said the defendants were notified in late November and early December. The first of the defendants made their initial court appearance on Jan. 6, and the last will do so today.

According to Edwards, though, the cases are likely to remain in the court systems for a number of years.

With these two new lawsuits, the 2011 tailgate collision has now sparked a total of four lawsuits — two from Short, and two from Barry’s estate — against not only the fraternity and its members, but also the University, the city of New Haven and other parties.

Faxon said he expects the four lawsuits to be potentially joined into one in the near future.

In the event of an award of damages or settlement, Faxon said, the fraternity members would likely pay through their parents’ homeowner’s or automobile insurance. Faxon predicted that the defendants’ insurance agencies would in turn sue the national fraternity and Liberty Mutual Insurance. Eventually, he said, the national association would likely take responsibility for any damages awarded by a jury, but the timeline for such an event remains to be determined.

“In the end, there’s not going to be any difference in the outcome of the case,” Faxon said. “[Short] would get the same compensation whether or not we had all these people involved.”

Edwards said he hopes the case is settled before trials are required for each of the defendants. He added that insurance companies often do not come to the settlement table until the eve of a trial.

Short first filed a lawsuit over the incident, naming Ross and the U-Haul company as defendants, in April 2012.

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A Novice's Guide to Tailgating

From a SigEp at LSU (don't judge); good tips for anyone.

The Odyssey Online - LSU - Sigma Phi Epsilon - A Novice's Guide to Tailgating

Andrew Alexander

Sigma Phi Epsilon

Saturday marks the season opener for the LSU football team. Fans young and old must only wait a few more days before they get to witness LSU’s new high-powered offense, led by Zach Mettenberger and his stable of running backs. The roar of the most inebriated crowd in the country will be heard for miles as “Callin’ Baton Rouge” plays inside Death Valley during the pregame festivities. However, before the sun finds its home in the western sky and our ears are tickled by the sonorous voice of Dan Borne reminding us the chance of rain is “Never!,” there’s another matter Tiger fans must attend to: tailgating. 

Tailgating is the most integral part of the game day experience outside of the game itself. It’s a conglomeration of RVs, tents, couches, grills, Dixie cups and speakers, drenched in every shade of purple and gold, stretching beyond the farthest reaches of campus. Ladies wear their finest game day dresses adorned with their “(insert sorority here) loves the Tigers!” sticker, while the gents don their best looking purple and gold frattire.

Obviously as Greeks, I don’t have to educate most of you on the nuances of the tailgating scene, but for the new crop of freshmen and anyone else who may have forgotten our beloved game day tradition, here’s some advice to make your tailgating experience as fulfilling as possible.

Pace Yourself -  Tailgating is a marathon not a sprint. Pounding brewskis like an Adderall-filled chimpanzee at 10 a.m. probably isn’t the best strategy if you want to make it to see the Tigers kickoff. There’s nothing worse than missing the game and having to catch the highlights on Sports Center. Have a good time, but rage responsibly.

Koozie Up - No one likes to shake a cold, wet hand. Whether it’s a cola or a beer, every drink should be clothed with your favorite koozie. While plentiful and easy to find, you can tell a lot about a person by the koozie he or she uses. And for the record, it’s called a koozie, not a “huggie.” This isn’t Starkville, MS.

Stay Hydrated - Tailgating is an all-day affair for most, and it’s no secret that Louisiana is pretty hot and humid this time of year. Mix in a fews cups of water or Gatorade to ensure that you beat the heat.

Don’t Forget Your Ticket - One of the worst feelings in the world is walking all the way out to the Parade Grounds  - or worse  Tiger   Stadium - and realizing you forgot to print out your ticket. On game days, a ticket is more valuable than King Midas’ gold. Make sure to grab yours before you walk out the door.

Cool It On the Party Pics - This one is directed to the ladies, you know who you are, that insist on taking a picture with every single person at the tailgate. A few pictures to commemorate the day and your new game day dress are fine, but you don’t need to break up every conversation just to get a picture with your “bestie!”

Watch Out for Law Enforcement - While neither The Odyssey nor myself condone underage drinking, it undoubtedly will happen while tailgating. Make sure to put whatever beverage you’re drinking in a Styrofoam cup, and it’s usually wise to only consume under the safety of your tailgate tent or area. If you’re the wise guy who decides to roam the campus with a tall boy in hand, don’t be surprised if you get a minor  possession citation.

Lastly, get excited! Football season is almost here! The Tigers face a long road to Miami, but I know the Purple and Gold faithful will be with them every step of the way, one tailgate at a time.