ThePopTort

Lawsuit for Fraternity Killing at Cornell - So Other Moms Don't Suffer

If you caught the Today Show  this morning, you may have seen the unbelievably tragic story of George Desdunes, a 19-year-old sophomore who was killed as a result of the actions of pledges at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity at Cornell University.  Time Magazine reported: 

Desdunes … was kidnapped by students pledging his house, tied up [and blindfolded, with zip ties and duct tape] and made to answer trivia questions about his fraternity. If he answered incorrectly, he was made to do exercises or consume various food and drinks that contained sugar, flavored syrups and vodka, according to ABC News.

Desdunes reportedly passed out, but rather than being taken to the hospital he was left, still tied up, on a couch in the house's library. He was later pronounced dead from alcohol poisoning with a blood alcohol level was .409 — or five times the legal limit.

ABC News adds that George was the only child of Haitian immigrant Marie Lourdes Andre.   He was a former altar boy.  He wanted to be a doctor.  And for this killing, the four former pledges were charged with misdemeanors, and the school suspended the frat - for a few years.

Imagine if this were your child?  Marie’s lawyer, Bill Friedlander, reflecting what most people are probably thinking, said, “Bringing misdemeanor charges when somebody is treated the way George was and somebody allows this kind of conduct to continue, I think is not going to affect change.”

There’s good reason to think that, since “at least five other deaths have occurred at SAE chapters since 1997.  “’I call it inmates running the institution,’ Friedlander told ABC News. ‘This is a terrible tragic case. He was a really great kid.’”

So his mom has brought a wrongful death suit, hoping this will accomplish the kind of change that nothing else has, so far.  She says, “With the death of my son, I find some comfort in knowing that this lawsuit may bring about changes in fraternities that will prevent other families from suffering as I have.”

Making sure no other mom will ever suffer the same tragedy....  This is why people sue. 

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Suing for Justice in Schools

At the PopTort, we love finding fissures in the conservative movement and its generally disparaging views about the civil justice system.  For example, we did a blog recently called “Conservatives Who Sue” and we are beyond impressed with some very strong anti-“tort reform” writings from the very conservative Center for a Just Society.  

Andrew Sullivan is one conservative blogger who, for his own reasons, doesn’t always follow the party line on this (as pointed out here).  Today, he is featuring a reader’s comment responding to a video campaign by Dan Savage directed at LGBT teens, trying to reassure them that no matter how badly they are bullied in school, things will get better if they “just hang in there.”  But for now, he says, “We can’t help them.” 

Sullivan's Daily Dish reader disagreed, making about as forceful an argument as we’ve seen for using the civil justice system in situations like this.  He writes:

There is absolutely something we can do.

In 1995, Lambda brought a case on behalf of Jamie Nabozny against the high school that allowed him to be relentlessly and brutally bullied for four years.  Students urinated on him, pretended to rape him during class, and when they found him alone kicked him so many times in the stomach that he required surgery. Although they knew of the abuse, school officials said at one point that Nabozny should expect it if he’s gay. For the first time, in this case, a court issued an opinion finding that a public school could be held accountable for not stopping antigay abuse. The case went back to trial and a jury found the school officials liable for the harm they caused to Nabozny. The case then settled for close to $1 million.

We need a national campaign to sue the crap out of these schools.  The disgusting and bigoted principals and administrators may be afraid to stand up for a gay kid, but they won't hesitate to protect themselves against a six-figure damages claim.

So let me ask readers this: What are real problems in our schools today?  Bullying that leads to suicides  and violence is certainly one.  If you’ve been following all the hoopla around the movie Waiting for Superman (yes, Oprah has done two shows on this already), the problem is bad teachers.  Of course, bad teachers sometimes teach in the suburbs too, where kids get a far better education than in the cities portrayed in the movie, so let’s say another big problem is money.  Here’s what no one thinks is the problem – lawsuits.  Say like the one directed at Jamie Nabozny’s school. 

Seems like the only one who keeps saying this is the anti-litigation corporate lawyer Philip K. Howard, recently featured in a David Brooks column and who recently complained – once again – (this time in the Daily Beast), that  “Fear of lawsuits has poisoned human interaction in … schools.”  In other words, a real problem in our schools is that teachers are afraid to touch students. Except, of course, when they're not.

All I can say is, I hope Philip K. Howard sticks with his day job, corporate lawyer, where he’s doing enough damage already, and stays out of our school systems, where he could do even more.