Protect
Your Rights
I. Real Problems
Beyond the well-publicized tragedies at
schools in Colorado (where Doug's firm,
Bode & Grenier, served as lead counsel
for the family of a math teacher who was brutally murdered), Arkansas
and other states, there are numerous
stories of violence suffered by students
on college and high school campuses across
the country. Violence at school exists
in many ways, and now, tragically, has
reached school and childcare facilities
serving pre-elementary school-aged children.
This violence exists in many forms, from
individual acts involving weapons to
organized acts of sexual assault, hazing,
bullying, and harassment.
Each unique, often preventable, incident
involves real pain and sadness, particularly
for young people who have left home for
the first time only to be terribly victimized.
Many of the cases involving sexual assault
are perpetrated by acquaintances, who have
exploited the victim’s trust, used
alcohol or drugs to disorient and disempower,
or benefited from a lack of appropriate
security or supervision on or around campus.
Indeed, we have been engaged to investigate
(and potentially file suit) in several
cases of acquaintance rape at universities
on the East Coast. We are also providing
professional assistance to counsel handling
similar claims involving sports teams and
sexual assaults in the State of Washington.
Several relevant publications on these
subjects worth reviewing include: Warshaw,
R., I Never Called it Rape (Harper & Row
1988); Lindquist, S., The Date Rape Prevention
Book, the Essential Guide for Girls & Women,
(Sourcebooks, Inc. 2000); Epstein, J.,
Sex, Drugs and Flunking Out, Answers to
the Questions Your College Student Doesn't
Want You to Ask, (Hazelden 2001); Wechsler,
H. & Wuethrich, D. Dying to Drink,
Confronting Binge Drinking on College Campuses,
(Rodale 2002).
I particularly encourage you to review
the information gathered and published
by Security on Campus ("S.O.C.")
(http://www.securityoncampus.org). S.O.C.
and its dedicated founders and staff are
true leaders in the fight to protect students
and make schools safer. Additional information
is available from Campus Watch (http://www.soconline.org/).
Other information and statistics on campus
crime are available from the U.S. Department
of Education and the Department of Justice.
For the most comprehensive information
about incidents of hazing, you may wish
to consult Hank Nuwer’s writings
and his website, which are identified elsewhere
on this site.
II. The Protection of Law
The law generally recognizes an individual’s
right to be free from intentional and unpermitted
physical contact by another, including
contact which is intended to cause severe
emotional distress. Likewise, there is
a general duty to conform one’s conduct
to certain standards in order to protect
others against unreasonable risks. High
schools, universities and student-membership
organizations should provide students with
safe learning and recreational environments,
and take the steps necessary to reasonably
prevent students from being victimized
by crime, sexually or racially harassed,
or hazed. These principles of common law
are general, vary from state to state,
and may be affected or rendered inapplicable
by numerous factors including specific
state and federal statutes. You should
seek your own qualified counsel for advice
as to the law applicable to your state
and particular circumstances. Subject to
the foregoing, you can review the case
of Henley v. Prince George's County, 503
A.2d 1333 (Md. 1986) for a compelling example
of how some of these principles were applied
in Maryland to impose civil liability against
a public college and other third-parties
arising out of a tragic sexual assault
and murder of a young child. To see how
the law may be used to hold landlords liable
in certain situations (and some states)
for failing to take reasonable steps to
protect tenants from being physically or
sexually assaulted, see Kline v. 1500 Mass.
Ave. Apartment Corp., 439 F.2d 477 (D.C.
Cir. 1970); Tenney v. Atlantic Associates,
594 N.W.2d 11 (Iowa 1999). In certain situations,
federal law applies and provides important
protection and remedies. Recently, the
U.S. Supreme Court identified just how
Title IX of the Education Amendments of
1972, 20 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq., is
to be applied by Federal courts to protect
students from, and hold federally funded
schools liable for, sexual harassment by
peers or teachers. See Davis v. Monroe
County Board of Education, 119 S.Ct. 1661
(1999).
With respect to hazing by athletic teams,
Greek or other organizations, the law differs
from state to state just as it does for
the above-discussed legal issues. Many
states (42 or so) have anti-hazing statutes
(thanks, no doubt, to the admirable efforts
of Eileen Stevens). These statutes play
an important role in setting forth the
proper public policy on this issue, since
they contradict the worthless notions that
hazing is or can be a legitimate rite of
passage, or that young people who succumb
to the pressures of classmates are just
getting what they ask for or deserve. These
statutes have also had some measure of
success in causing the prosecution of wrongdoers.
Nonetheless, most of these statutes only
make hazing a low-grade misdemeanor, and
many only criminalize conduct which causes
severe physical injury (ignoring entirely
those hazing activities which are intended
to or are likely to cause psychological
harm). For an example of these sorts of
differences, you may wish to compare the
laws of Maryland and Alabama, Md. Ann.
Code art. 27, § 268H (1996) and Ala.
Code § 16-1-23 (1975), respectively.
The following cases and materials are instructive
of the range of the legal principles at
issue in civil hazing cases: Oja v. Theta
Chi Fraternity, Inc., 667 N.Y.S.2d 650
(S. Ct. Tompkins County 1998); Haben v.
Anderson, 597 N.E.2d 655 (Ill. App. CT
1992); Jones v. Kappa Alpha Order, Inc.,
730 So.2d 203 (Ala. 1998); Doty, D. Enough
is Enough: The Legal Responsibility of
Public Schools and Universities to Prohibit
Hazing 134 Ed.Law Rep. 423 (July 8, 1999).
Recently, a jury in Kentucky (Blackstone
v. Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.) awarded
a student approximately $930,000 for his
compensatory and punitive damages against
Omega Psi Phi in a case which involved
severe, life-threatening physical injuries.
III. Examples of My Work to Protect these
Rights
I have represented numerous families whose loved ones have been raped, hazed,
assaulted, severely emotionally harmed or killed, including families from Texas,
Indiana, Michigan, Virginia, Tennessee, the District of Columbia, Maryland,
Ohio, Mississippi, and other states. More detailed information (limited to
material that is a matter of public record) about some of these cases may be
found elsewhere on the site under "Litigation Results." In one of
the cases we have handled involving sexual assault, I represented a young woman
who was brutally raped by “friends of a friend” when she was in
high school. The prosecutor’s refusal to pursue a criminal case was an
emotionally devastating turn of events for the young woman since that decision
was made after she found the strength to pursue criminal charges following
an extended period of recovery. No doubt, the extended passage of time made
proving her case difficult, particularly against her “friend” who
allegedly used a ruse to get her out of her home and to a secluded site where
the assault by others took place. I filed civil claims on her and her parents’ behalf,
ultimately helping her to take control, fight back and obtain a very favorable,
confidential settlement.
I litigate (and advise clients) with a "team
approach" to maximize expertise, capabilities,
and varied experience. Another member of
the team is my partner, Marian K. Riedy,
who has twenty years of experience representing
plaintiffs in cases arising from catastrophic
personal injuries. Marian graduated from
Harvard Law School, served as a volunteer
for the D.C. Rape Crisis Center ("DCRCC")
Hotline, was a member of the Board of Directors
of DCRCC, and currently teaches interns
and volunteers classes on "Civil Remedies
for Victims of Sexual Abuse/Violence." For
matters handled in other states where we
are not licensed, we apply for special
admission to practice in the state pro
hac vice and associate ourselves with qualified
local counsel, often drawing upon our connections
with legal advocates across the country
through our membership in the Association
of Trial Lawyers of America ("ATLA").
I am a founder and co-chair of ATLA's litigation
group: "Schools: Violence, Safety,
and Misconduct."
IV. Take Control
If you have been a victim of campus crime,
sexual violence, or other misconduct, I
hope you will have the courage to report
this to the appropriate authorities, seek
help and, ultimately, empower yourself
by understanding your rights and options.
I hope the information contained in this
site will contribute to your efforts. Taking
control over the resolution of a painful
circumstance, often regardless of when,
how or how much, can be a very important
step. Feel free to contact me directly
if you have any questions or concerns about
this site or any other matter. You can
email me at dfierberg@bode.com
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