riminal Charges, Civil Suits Follow Hazing Activities at Asian-American Fraternities and Sororities

Over the last decade, as more Asian-Americans have filled college classes nationwide, new fraternities and sororities have sprung up on universities from coast to coast. Not surprisingly, those organizations have experienced some serious legal difficulties, mostly tied to injury or death stemming from “initiation” rites. Here are some examples:

• A freshman at Baruch College in New York died in 2013 after he was blindfolded and weighed down with a backpack filled with sand, then required to run across a frozen field. Five members of the fraternity he sought to join have been charged with third-degree murder, and others face assorted charges, including assault, hindering apprehension and hazing.
• The family of a student at the University of Texas at Austin settled a wrongful death case for $4.2 million, after their son, a freshman, died from alcohol poisoning at a fraternity party.
• The family of a student at Cal Poly Pomona obtained $1.7 million from a fraternity that engaged in the hazing death of their son, who died from injuries sustained in a tackle football game without equipment.
• At least two members of an Asian-American fraternity at Syracuse University face misdemeanor criminal charges for forcing pledges to crawl through snow and ice without gloves. One of the pledges experienced severe frostbite and risked the loss of some of his fingers.

Though most fraternities insist that participating in hazing/initiation rites is entirely voluntary, attorneys for victims say that, as a practical matter, pledges will nearly always participate, even if they know the risks, because they fear they will be rejected or ostracized if they fail to do so.

A study by Dr. Minh Tran, of the UCLA School of Dentistry, found a pattern where some Asian-American fraternity members used hazing as an outlet for what he called ” a hyper-masculinity.” He found that, within certain organizations, hazing continued to escalate from year to year, as new members sought to “outdo” the initiation rites of the past. He noted that it typically led to a decreased reputation, lower quality recruits, and a greater propensity to even more egregious behavior. He recommended greater oversight by both national fraternity offices and local universities.

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Simple Steps to Help Your Legal Cause When You Have Suffered an Injury

In the aftermath of a personal injury, it’s all about finding and hiring the best lawyer, isn’t it? Then you just get out of the way and let them do what they do best, right? Not entirely, say experienced personal injury attorneys. There are simple steps you can take that can make it far easier for your lawyer to get full and fair compensation for all your losses. Here’s what we recommend:

Step One: Seek Immediate Medical Attention

This is critical, not just because it offers you the best opportunity for a full medical recovery. It’s also important because it can eliminate potential defenses from the party at-fault. If you don’t seek timely medical treatment, you open the door for a number of challenges to your claim, including:

• It wasn’t really caused in the accident, but by some subsequent event
• It wasn’t a serious injury, or you would have sought medical care sooner

Step Two: Get Information from the At-Fault Party or Parties, as Well as Witnesses

You want to obtain information that will allow your attorney to contact anyone who was either involved in the accident or who saw what happened. If you gather that information right away, it offers your lawyer the opportunity to question witnesses while memories are still fresh. Additionally, the sooner you can provide information to your attorney, the sooner legal action can be initiated and the sooner you can get compensation. Typically, you (or someone you love, if your injury is too serious) can gather this information at the scene and time of the accident.

Step Three: Hire an Attorney

There are a number of reasons to hire an attorney as soon as possible. First, you will likely turn to your own insurer to recover for some of your losses. But don’t be surprised if your insurance company engages in delaying tactics or denies your claim. Your insurer has a vested interest in paying as little as possible to settle your claim. Let your attorney be your advocate with your insurance company.

In addition, there are time restraints on the filing of a personal injury lawsuit. Though you typically have at least two years to file your complaint, the sooner you do, the less risk you have that critical witnesses will die or disappear.

Contact Sackstein Sackstein & Lee, LLP

At Sackstein Sackstein & Lee, LLP, we have more than 60 years of experience protecting the rights of personal injury victims. For a free initial consultation,
contact our office online or call us toll free at 888-519-6400.