Mother’s Suit Claims Sorority Hazing Played Role in Daughter’s Fatal Car Wreck
A grieving mother recently sued a sorority her daughter was pledging, contending that the actions of the sorority’s leaders contributed to the auto accident that took her daughter’s life. The mother expressed hope that the lawsuit might help end the “hazing culture” at the sorority, the Charlotte Observer reported.
Sorority Required Pledges To Endure Weeks of Hazing
In the fall of 2010, Victoria Carter was a student at East Carolina University, pledging membership in the Delta Sigma Theta sorority. The sorority required its pledges to endure several weeks of hazing, concluding with what was known as “Hell Week,” which involved depriving pledges of sleep and forcing them to engage in embarrassing activities. The sorority demanded its 17 pledges, during the initiation period, to reside in a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment, and to perform various demeaning tasks for the members.
Additionally, and likely the most dangerous, though, was the preparation for “probate,” a ceremony where the sorority makes an elaborate show of introducing the pledges as the newest members of the sorority. The sorority required the pledges to endure long hours of ceremony preparations, working to perfect their performances. Allegedly, on the eve of the ceremony, the sorority’s members, advisers and alumnae ordered the pledges to practice their parts in the ceremony “over and over again until they ‘got it right’.”
Tragic Details of the Deadly Early Morning Car Accident
The sorority’s members booked a 6:30 a.m. hair salon appointment for Carter and three other girls on the morning of the ceremony. According to the mother’s suit, the girls did not have an opportunity to sleep between their final probate ceremony practice session and the hair appointment, and had endured weeks of sleep deprivation as a result of their living situation. One of the other girls, Kamil Arrington, drove the group to the appointment, but they never arrived. Arrington fell asleep at the wheel, veered off the road, and struck a tree. Carter died instantly.
University officials investigated and, finding the sorority members less than forthcoming, immediately placed the chapter on two years’ probation. The sorority’s national leadership also investigated and decided to suspend the ECU’s chapter charter until at least 2015.
Initial Wrongful Death Lawsuit Only Against The Driver
Carter’s mother, Bernadette Carter, initially brought her wrongful death suit against only Arrington. After further investigation by her lawyer, though, Carter recently decided to add members of the sorority to the action. According to Carter’s complaint, the sorority’s hazing requirements left Arrington suffering from extreme exhaustion, fatigue and sleep deprivation, which caused her to fall asleep at the wheel and wreck her vehicle.
While Carter’s lawsuit seeks compensatory damages for the loss of her daughter, her attorney indicated that his client had an additional goal in mind. “There’s no amount of money that’s going to bring their daughter back. What they really want to do is change the culture,” the attorney told the Observer.
Courts Will Apply the “Forseeability Test”
This is a good example of a negligence case where the conduct which caused the harm is somewhat novel, not specifically illegal, and did not directly result in harm. Basic negligence law comes into play in determining whether the sorority can be held liable for the death. One key issue in answering this question is whether the death was a forseeable result of the conduct. In applying the “forseeability test,” courts look for a reasonably close connection between the other party’s conduct and the harm. In most cases this determination is made by a jury, following guidelines given by the court.
While college can be a time for experiencing many new things, recklessly and needlessly harmful, and potentially fatal, things should not be among them. When people put others in situations that they know, or common sense should tell them, are dangerous, they should be liable for the harm they do.
Talk to a Wrongful Death Attorney
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Boone Callaway is a personal injury & medical malpractice lawyer in San Francisco who has been working with clients in the Bay Area for over 25 years. Mr. Callaway is one of only a few personal injury litigators in San Francisco who is a Super Lawyer, AV Rated and is also a member of ABOTA – American Board of Trial Advocates.
