Bad Ideas, Education / Schools

Party Foul! Sorority Sisters Duel Over 'Mean Girl' Allegations In Federal Court

Perhaps you should think twice before taking a pledge of evil... errrr... joining a sorority.

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women fighting over shoppingLaughter, hugs, and lifelong friendships: This is what sorority life is typically marketed as during the new member recruitment period each year at colleges and universities across the country. The things that tend to get left out of the equation when these sisterhoods are vying to fill their pledge classes are the petty squabbles and tearful tantrums that go on behind closed doors on a weekly — if not daily — basis. One sorority, however, recently had some of its dirtiest laundry aired in public thanks to a federal court filing that served up a healthy dose of drama.

Rachel Lader and [Sorority Member] are both members of the Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority at Penn State University. According to federal court filings that pit the queen of mean against a damsel in distress, Lader alleges that [Sorority Member] is a coddled little baby who tried to ruin her academic record before she applied to law school; [Sorority Member], on the other hand, alleges that Lader is an “expert bully, with a Ph.D. in intimidation.”

Here’s more info a DOUBLE FUCKING NEWSFLASH from the Philadelphia Inquirer:

This week, Lader, a rising senior and aspiring lawyer, filed a defamation and breach-of-contract lawsuit in federal court in Philadelphia alleging that [Sorority Member’s] parents – donors to the university and active alumni – used their influence at the school to manipulate a baseless disciplinary proceeding against her that ended with her being placed on academic probation and threatened with expulsion.

The [Sorority Member’s Parents’] primary complaints?

Lader allegedly played music too loud in the Barcelona apartment that the girls shared during a study-abroad trip earlier this year, brought a man back to their hotel room in Prague, and once – in a fit of frustration over [Sorority Member’s] purported slovenliness – dumped a colander filled with pasta on her roommate’s bed.

This is all very serious sorority business.

“The alleged conduct complained of by [Sorority Member] is without any merit and is nothing more than slander and harassment by [her] and her mother to have me thrown out of school,” she wrote in a memo to Penn State earlier this year. Lader further claims that Penn State proposed that if she would break her lease and move out of her apartment with [Sorority Member], the school would drop its disciplinary probe against her. She refused to do so, and was instead charged with harassment by the school, a code of conduct violation. Lader asked a judge to vacate her disciplinary record and award her damages for defamation and the [Sorority Member’s Parents’] infliction of emotional distress upon her.

What will a federal judge be able to do about this hot mess? It seems that before Judge Timothy Savage of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania was able to make a ruling, Lader and [Sorority Member] “hugged and made up.” According to the Daily Mail, per [Sorority Member’s] father, the whole episode was just a “big misunderstanding,” and Lader’s federal suit “should have never happened in the first place.”

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Perhaps you should think twice before taking a pledge of evil joining a sorority — the things complained about in this federal suit are really quite tame. Those of you who have had the pleasure of being sorority members know that it can get much, much worse.

Roommate drama lands Penn State sorority sisters in federal court [Philadelphia Inquirer]
All is forgiven! Penn State sorority sister drops lawsuit against her house mate over thrown pasta, male guests and loud music… and they’re moving in together again [Daily Mail]

Earlier: Nick Saban’s Daughter Accused Of Beating Up Her Sorority Sister

Staci Zaretsky is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. Follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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