Education / Schools, Lawsuit of the Day, Rudeness

Lawsuit of the Day Last Week: Neighborhood Sues Frat Boys for Being Frat Boys

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A neighborhood association in Berkeley has filed a class action suit against the University of California – Berkeley’s many fraternities, accusing them of being, well, total frat boys. This lawsuit got wasted in the Californian press last week, but we’re funneling it for the first time today thanks to Courthouse News Service.
As one would expect, the complaint alleges that the frat studs are guilty of public and private nuisances. As one might not expect, the legal theory in the suit “has its roots in cities’ injunctions against criminal street gangs,” per The Recorder.
Phi Beta Kappa appears to be the only Greek society left off of the defendants’ list in the complaint [PDF]. The “South of Campus Neighborhood Association” and Paul Ghysels accuse them of public drunkenness, facilitation and encouragement of underage drinking, harassment of passers-by, “excessive noise, particularly between the hours of 11 pm and 7 am,” noxious smells and fumes, public urination, “hosting large social gatherings,” and “shooting projectiles, which have hit neighbors,” among other awesome offenses.
Oh, college.
So who do California college fraternity members call when they need help to protect their hard-partying ways? A lawyer in Texas, of course.


The lawyer representing 17 of the 37 frats sued is James Ewbank of Ewbank & Byrom in Austin, Texas. His firm specializes in frat defense, and actually devotes a section of its website to its Greek clients. Ewbank told the Recorder:

“This does seem to be isolated to a few neighbors, but the plaintiffs have turned this into a monster litigation that’s going to be endless in terms of fees, when so far I haven’t seen any evidence of widespread nuisance by fraternity members.”

Our undergraduate days at Duke would lead us to suggest that frat houses and widespread nuisances go together like Tri Delt girls and Delta Sig guys.
The lead plaintiff, Paul Ghysels, a retired firefighter and paramedic, claims he hasn’t been able to sleep through the night on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday in more than a decade. He tells the Daily Californian:

“I sent pictures to the national chapter that shows pictures of how frat brothers broke into my home, puked on my furniture, in my driveway, in the streets,” he said.

In the words of Frat Stud — an ATL commenter whose absence suggests graduation — guys at our high school used to break into people’s homes and puke all over their furniture all the time. It was no big deal (and did not result in class action lawsuits).
Class Calls Berkeley Frat Boys a Menace [Courthouse News Service]
Suit Tries Gang Strategy Against Frat Boys [The Recorder]
Berkeley Residents to Bring Lawsuit Against Campus Fraternities [Daily Californian]

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