Published by The Pellegrin Firm March 5, 2020

In an interesting case decided by the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal in October 2019, the court ruled that members of a fraternity’s executive board could be held individually liable for a fatal car accident allegedly caused by a sleep-deprived pledge forced to act as a designated driver for intoxicated fraternity members. The court of appeal reversed the district court, which held that the deceased man’s mother had not stated a cause of action for negligence against the executive board members individually. The accident took place in Lafayette, Louisiana and the defendants were members of a fraternity at the University of Louisiana – Lafayette.

Reviewing the record de novo and accepting all of the plaintiff’s factual allegations as true, the court of appeal held that the plaintiff had sufficiently alleged a breach of a duty and a cause of action under Louisiana negligence law. The plaintiff alleged that the executive officers had assumed duties to govern the fraternity appropriately and had signed documents promising to enforce relevant fraternity bylaws that forbid hazing. In addition, the plaintiff alleged the officers owed a general duty to the public not to permit or support dangerous hazing activities, such as forcing sleep-derived persons to drive. The court found these allegations plausible if the plaintiff could indeed prove them and connect all the dots at trial.

The case is Nizamutdinova v. Kappa Sigma Fraternity, et. al. 18-886 (La.App. 3 Cir. 10/2/2019), 280 So.3d 1003. The Louisiana Supreme Court declined to hear the case January 8, 2020, over the objection of one justice, clearing the way for a trial on the merits.