The Illinois Supreme Court has ruled that the family of a Northern Illinois University fraternity pledge can proceed with a lawsuit involving his 2012 death from excessive drinking.
The court Friday upheld a lower court ruling that David Bogenberger's family can't file a wrongful death lawsuit against the national Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity but they can sue the local chapter, its local members and local sorority women who were participating in the event at the fraternity chapter house.
The sorority women were participating in a "Mom and Dad's Night" where a fraternity member and one of the women allegedly hosted drinking events in various rooms of the Pi Kappa Alpha house.
A Cook County judge dismissed the family's lawsuit in 2014, finding that a person providing or serving alcohol isn't responsible for consequences to the person who drinks it. However the high court said Friday that the 19-year-old died in an “alcohol-related hazing event.''
The Supreme Court ruling pointed out that the nature of the hazing event was different from the "social host" rule that places the responsibility for alcohol consumption on the person drinking rather than the person supplying.
The ruling stated:
"This type of hazing does not fit within the social host situation. Alcohol is not merely furnished to an individual; the individual is required to consume alcohol, often at a near-lethal level, to gain admission into a school organization. This required consumption of alcohol is not too remote to serve as the proximate cause of intoxication and the resulting injury."
The court noted that its ruling is "quite narrow," applying only to this type of situation.
Several former fraternity members were sentenced to community service and fines in a hazing case involving Bogenberger's death.
- The Associated Press contributed to this report.
