Are the parents of the other 3 students who are being charged vicariously liable for their sons’ actions? If the father of the deceased decides to bring a civil suit against the 3, who would pay the judgments if he were to win??
I have considerable experience in this aspect of homeowners coverage and so long as the three remain students and are primary residents of their parents’ homes, despite the fact that they live most of the year in college dorms or rented houses near college campuses, their parents’ H.O. carriers will be on the hook.
I should clarify my previous comment…the H.O. coverage is not necessarily because the parents are vicariously liable, although the plaintiffs usually make that argument, but because the students are ‘insured’ under those policies.
I’m not buying that….When I went to college, I left my parents at home as I was now independent. I did not have any expectation that the college was responsible for ME! I was taught to do that myself. I’d bet money that this incident took place at a privately owned residence, as most frat houses are. The college didn’t own the property and if you ask me, had no obligation to supervise it, regulate yes, supervise NO! I notice today that parents do not encourage their children to be accountable for themselves; that’s why they stay at home until they’re almost 30! My dad went to work at 14; I moved out at 17….and broke the apron strings!
As far as suing people how are to blame, why would you sue the college, it is not their job to babysit, the college is a business, just as a landlord cannot be held responsible for his tenets and a business should not be held liable for what happens after hours when everyone is gone, nor should the college be liable…
But if you need to play the blame game- the primary blame should be placed on the dead man, and if you are looking to place blame on others- the police are supposed to stop that- why aren’t they suing the police? It is their job to make sure no underage people are drinking, it is not the colleges job.
If the situation was different and the kid gets drunk and caught by the university and they call the cops on him, or discipline the kid themselves, this father would be outraged that the university has taken action against his kid. He would have sued the university for interferring in his kids fun. He would have simply said, thats what kids do at college. How typical of the sue happy community we have here in America. This guy should be ashamed of himself.
No liability for parents homeowners if the 3 are found guilty of a crimminal act.
Ya all are missing the bigger “Hazing” point. Was the kid forced or at least pushed to drink sooooo much. Liability!
Did college have rules against hazing? If not they should have been held to some level of liability.
In this day and age, a college student is not considered to be “independent” (at least for tuition/student loan/financial aid purposes) unless the parents are dead, cannot be located, the student was emancipated, or the student has a child of his/her own.
But, I was just trying to illustrate the different views on liability for all the various parties involved. Also, I wasn’t sure if being legally responsible for the actions of your children had any limits on it, like the federal tax code, i.e. you can claim them as dependents until age 24 if they are full time students. I completely forgot that it was more an issue of being a member of the household as defined by the parents’ HO insurance.
Personally, I’m a lot more callous & Darwinesque when it comes to people drinking themselves to death – I think of it more as the natural thinning of the herd.
As a mother of 3, let me start by saying that were I in that position (God forbid) I would want to see the university take some responsibility for the incident. Isn’t the fraternity sanctioned by the school? Yes, the student probably decided to drink. But universities today need to realize that when someone sends a young adult to live there, they (the school) hold some responsibility. We pay tuition, a lot of times we pay for housing. To say this father is trying to financially benefit unless you know and have spoken to him is horrific. Maybe he just has no other way of making the school and the students take PART of the responsibility that while his son was dying, nobody stepped in to help. I have lost friends in college to drinking, and while a long time ago, the incidents happened completely off school grounds and the students lived in regular houses. Had they lived in an off campus house sanctioned by the school, then yes – I do think the school holds some responsibility for what goes on in that ‘sanctioned’ house. Sometimes a lawsuit is not frivilous because there is not enough evidence. All the money in the world wont bring his son back, but what other recourse does he have?
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Are the parents of the other 3 students who are being charged vicariously liable for their sons’ actions? If the father of the deceased decides to bring a civil suit against the 3, who would pay the judgments if he were to win??
Goooood Question EeBb!
I have considerable experience in this aspect of homeowners coverage and so long as the three remain students and are primary residents of their parents’ homes, despite the fact that they live most of the year in college dorms or rented houses near college campuses, their parents’ H.O. carriers will be on the hook.
I should clarify my previous comment…the H.O. coverage is not necessarily because the parents are vicariously liable, although the plaintiffs usually make that argument, but because the students are ‘insured’ under those policies.
I’m not buying that….When I went to college, I left my parents at home as I was now independent. I did not have any expectation that the college was responsible for ME! I was taught to do that myself. I’d bet money that this incident took place at a privately owned residence, as most frat houses are. The college didn’t own the property and if you ask me, had no obligation to supervise it, regulate yes, supervise NO! I notice today that parents do not encourage their children to be accountable for themselves; that’s why they stay at home until they’re almost 30! My dad went to work at 14; I moved out at 17….and broke the apron strings!
Well, sanity finally wins a round….
As far as suing people how are to blame, why would you sue the college, it is not their job to babysit, the college is a business, just as a landlord cannot be held responsible for his tenets and a business should not be held liable for what happens after hours when everyone is gone, nor should the college be liable…
But if you need to play the blame game- the primary blame should be placed on the dead man, and if you are looking to place blame on others- the police are supposed to stop that- why aren’t they suing the police? It is their job to make sure no underage people are drinking, it is not the colleges job.
If the situation was different and the kid gets drunk and caught by the university and they call the cops on him, or discipline the kid themselves, this father would be outraged that the university has taken action against his kid. He would have sued the university for interferring in his kids fun. He would have simply said, thats what kids do at college. How typical of the sue happy community we have here in America. This guy should be ashamed of himself.
No liability for parents homeowners if the 3 are found guilty of a crimminal act.
Ya all are missing the bigger “Hazing” point. Was the kid forced or at least pushed to drink sooooo much. Liability!
Did college have rules against hazing? If not they should have been held to some level of liability.
In this day and age, a college student is not considered to be “independent” (at least for tuition/student loan/financial aid purposes) unless the parents are dead, cannot be located, the student was emancipated, or the student has a child of his/her own.
But, I was just trying to illustrate the different views on liability for all the various parties involved. Also, I wasn’t sure if being legally responsible for the actions of your children had any limits on it, like the federal tax code, i.e. you can claim them as dependents until age 24 if they are full time students. I completely forgot that it was more an issue of being a member of the household as defined by the parents’ HO insurance.
Personally, I’m a lot more callous & Darwinesque when it comes to people drinking themselves to death – I think of it more as the natural thinning of the herd.
As a mother of 3, let me start by saying that were I in that position (God forbid) I would want to see the university take some responsibility for the incident. Isn’t the fraternity sanctioned by the school? Yes, the student probably decided to drink. But universities today need to realize that when someone sends a young adult to live there, they (the school) hold some responsibility. We pay tuition, a lot of times we pay for housing. To say this father is trying to financially benefit unless you know and have spoken to him is horrific. Maybe he just has no other way of making the school and the students take PART of the responsibility that while his son was dying, nobody stepped in to help. I have lost friends in college to drinking, and while a long time ago, the incidents happened completely off school grounds and the students lived in regular houses. Had they lived in an off campus house sanctioned by the school, then yes – I do think the school holds some responsibility for what goes on in that ‘sanctioned’ house. Sometimes a lawsuit is not frivilous because there is not enough evidence. All the money in the world wont bring his son back, but what other recourse does he have?