The jury deliberated for two hours Friday before awarding the verdict for Shawn A. Blackston against Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. Blackston, now 25, was beaten with a wooden paddle, suffered renal failure and was hospitalized as a result of the April 2-3, 1997, hazing. U of Louisville banished the chapter from its campus for at least 10 years.
The jury ordered the fraternity to pay $750,000 in punitive damages and to reimburse Blackston $181,428 for mental and physical suffering, medical
expenses and lost wages. That amount is 5 percent less than the cost of damages that jurors determined Blackston suffered, because they ruled he was 5 percent responsible for what happened.
The jury said Omega Psi Phi's national organization knew, or should have known, that its UofL chapter was hazing initiates and that it didnt take appropriate actions to prevent the hazing of Blackston.
"I think the jury sent Omega a message to put their house in order", said
Glenn Cohen, Blackstons attorney. "We're not going to tolerate this kind
of activity." Blackston has recovered fully and was elated by the verdict, Cohen said.
The fraternity's national headquarters, based in Decatur, Ga., said it
would appeal the decision.
Willie Peale, a Frankfort attorney representing Omega Psi Phi, said U of L
members of the fraternity went against the fraternity's policies by
hazing. Those members were suspended by the national fraternity soon after the beating.
"This renegade group ... wants to persist in practices and activities
that were a part of the fraternity in years past, in days gone by", Peale
said. "We have set up a new procedure, and thats what were governed by now". Peale said he thought only the people who administered the beating should have been held responsible, not the national organization. He said the
fraternity will sue members involved with the beating, and possibly Blackston.
According to testimony, Blackston and other initiates were struck
repeatedly with paddles, made to eat dog food, stay up all night, and
run around a track carrying bricks, Cohen said.
LOUISVILLE, KY. - A Jefferson County Circuit Court jury ordered a fraternity to pay more than $931,000 to a former University of Louisville student who was severely beaten during an initiation hazing ritual in 1997.
