Parents File North Carolina Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Lenoir-Rhyne University and Theta Chi Fraternity
The parents of a 19-year-old boy who died during a fraternity event while attending Lenoir-Rhyne University is suing the school and the Theta Chi Fraternity for his wrongful death. Harrison Kowiak died on November 18, 2008.
Kowiak was taking part in bulldogging, a game that involves pledges retrieving rocks in a dark field while fraternity members tackle them. While Kowiak weighed just 160 pounds, a number of the fraternity brothers were football players.
According to the North Carolina wrongful death complaint, Kowiak complained that he was hurt but no one took him seriously until he became unresponsive. The complaint contends that members of the fraternity took him to the hospital but lied about what had occurred.
Autopsy results indicate that Kowiak’s cause of death was blunt trauma to the head.
The Durham County wrongful death complaint also names as defendants the Theta Chi faculty advisor, the university’s fraternity supervisor, and 21 males that allegedly took part in the bulldogging.
Kowiak played golf for the university.
Hazing is illegal in North Carolina. Yet hazing continues to take place on some campuses even though this is not the first time someone has gotten hurt. While pledging a house in the Greek system can be a lot of fun and a great way to bond with people, this initiation process can turn deadly should activities get out of hand that they endanger the well-being of participants. Binge drinking, sexual abuse, verbal abuse, and physical abuse have been known to take place during certain hazing events.
Regardless of whether your son or daughter was injured or killed during an activity that was intended as good fun, if anyone behaved negligently and contributed to causing the accident you should explore your legal options for North Carolina personal injury or wrongful death.
Parents of Lenoir-Rhyne student sue over "hazing," WCNC.com, August 1, 2009
Tampa Teen Got Fatal Head Injury During Frat Initiation, TBO.com, November 20, 2008
Related Web Resources:
Dangers of Fraternity Hazing, University-College.net
Abuse by Any Name, News & Observer, August 4, 2009
