Kappa Delta Rho- Penn State University Litigation Update

Tim Burke, Manley Burke, tburke@manleyburke.com

As reported in the June 15^th issue of Fraternal Law, a lawsuit was filed in Philadelphia last year against Penn State University, the Kappa Delta Rho Chapter there, the Penn State Interfraternity Council, and the Campus Panhellenic Association.  The suit grew out of reports that members of the fraternity were alleged to have shared nude photos of unsuspecting and un-consenting women on a secret Facebook page.  The suit wasn’t brought by the women whose photos were allegedly shared, but instead by a former member of the chapter who claims to be a whistleblower who was badly hazed.  The suit alleges that the University did not appropriately responded to his complaints.

In late January, Judge Arnold L. New of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas granted the motion by Penn State requiring the case to be transferred.

Both the fraternity and Penn State argued that the case did not belong in Philadelphia.  The plaintiff did not live there.  No witnesses were there.  None of the actions complained of in the complaint took place in Philadelphia.  Penn State’s main campus, where the events occurred, was located some 190 miles away.  The court ultimately agreed.

The Court gave the plaintiff the option of refiling the case in either Centre County, where Penn State is located, or Dauphin County, where the state capital Harrisburg is located.  The plaintiff’s attorney, whose offices are in Philadelphia, has opted to proceed in Dauphin County and has posted on his website the statement “We are confident that the story Mr. Vivenzio will tell about the outrageous conduct inside a Penn State fraternity, with hazing and violence and sexual misconduct, will be just as compelling in Harrisburg as it would have been in Philadelphia.”

That remains to be seen.