Suit Against UI Sorority Dismissed Pledge From Spokane Paralyzed By 1995 Fall From Fire Escape

The lawsuit filed against a University of Idaho sorority by a Spokane woman who was paralyzed by taking a drunken fall from its fire escape has been dismissed.

Alpha Phi, the sorority Rejena Coghlan was pledging to become a member of when she fell, was granted a summary judgment by 2nd District Judge Ida Leggett on Wednesday.

Alpha Phi was the final defendant in the lawsuit filed in 1995 by Coghlan and her family. The original defendants also included the University of Idaho, state Board of Education, fraternities Beta Theta Pi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Pi Kappa Alpha, and several unnamed individuals They were relieved of responsibility last year.

One legal issue does remain, however. During Alpha Phi’s hearing for summary judgment in June, Coghlan’s attorney, Bryan Ulmer, asked that a complaint alleging the sorority house was unsafe be added to the lawsuit.

Although the original suit was dismissed, the issue of the house’s safety will stand as a new claim against Alpha Phi.

The lawsuits stem from Coghlan’s fall from the third-story fire escape after a night of drinking at fraternity parties during Rush Week in August 1993. She was paralyzed from the waist down.

Coghlan’s suit alleged Alpha Phi was negligent because as her social host, it provided her with alcohol.

State law outlines who can recover damages in an incident where a minor is served alcohol, and the consumer of the alcohol is not included in this case, Leggett wrote.

Coghlan also said Alpha Phi had a duty to protect her when it accepted her as a pledge.

“Society no longer expects 18-year-old college students to be monitored and supervised by an organization,” Leggett responded.

The lawsuit alleged hazing by the sorority sisters when they told her to “drink up” and handed her a shot of bourbon.

To this, Leggett wrote: “This act alone cannot reasonably be interpreted as coercion to drink.”

Another allegation in the lawsuit addresses the moving of Coghlan after falling into bushes outside the house. Leggett’s ruling said a statement made by Coghlan saying it was irresponsible of people to move her has no evidence to support it.

A state law protects people who offer assistance at the scene of an accident. Coghlan may appeal Leggett’s decision.