National Frat Faces Trial for 2011 Harvard-Yale Tailgate Crash

A Superior Court judge in Waterbury, Conn., has ruled that the national fraternity organization Sigma Phi Epsilon must proceed to trial as a defendant following the 2011 Harvard-Yale tailgate incident that left one woman dead and two others injured.

In November 2011 at the Harvard-Yale football game in New Haven, Brandon Ross, a member of Yale's chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon, lost control of a U-Haul truck containing alcohol and other items en route to a fraternity-sanctioned tailgate, careening into a crowd of people.

Ross struck and killed Nancy Barry, 30, a resident of Salem, Mass., and injured Harvard employee Elizabeth Dernbach and Yale student Sarah Short.

In 2012, Short filed a lawsuit against Ross and the national fraternity. The lawsuit also named U-Haul and Yale as defendants, but the claim was later withdrawn. This past March, the national organization submitted a motion for summary judgment, which would allow the suit to bypass a full trial by jury and be directly decided by a judge.

But in her order released last month, Judge Kari Anne Dooley wrote that the evidence presented offered conflicting conclusions on the relationship between the national organization and the local chapter. The absence of a conclusive fact, she wrote, indicates that a jury must decide.

“There is no one conclusive determination that must be drawn from the evidence as to whether an agency relationship exists between the local chapter and the National organization,” Dooley wrote. “This will be for the jury to decide.”

Faxon Law Group partner Eric P. Smith, who represents Short and filed a memorandum in opposition to the motion, welcomed the order in a press release.

“The court’s ruling ensures the case against the national fraternity will go before a jury where we will present evidence establishing why the national fraternity is fully responsible under the law for Ross’ negligent actions,” Smith said in the release.

Since the 2011 incident, the national Sigma Phi Epsilon organization has distanced itself from the actions of the local Yale chapter.

In an October 2013 deposition provided to The Crimson by Faxon Law Group, Brian C. Warren, Jr., the chief executive officer of the national organization, said the local chapters are self-governing when it comes to enforcing national expectations.

“We, unfortunately, take action when we are made aware of something,” Warren said. “We are just not in a position to know—or be the first to know because we don’t have direct involvement in the chapter operation.”

Also in the deposition, Kathy Johnston, the director of risk management for the national organization, said Yale’s local chapter violated national policy by transporting alcohol, and therefore may not be eligible for the national fraternity’s insurance.

“[Ross] was transporting alcohol in a bulk quantity, so that would call into question whether or not he was acting within the scope of his duties for the fraternity,” Johnston said. “He was violating the risk management policy.”

The national organization did not return a request for comment.

In addition to the lawsuit against the national Sigma Phi Epsilon organization, Short filed a separate lawsuit against the members of the local chapter. The 86 individuals have motioned for a summary judgment and are awaiting a decision from a judge.

—Staff writer R. Blake Paterson can be reached at rpaterson@college.harvard.edu. Follow him on Twitter @BlakePat95.