## Facts

- Lurie Barry Ballou was a pledge of a local Sigma Nu chapter at the University of South Carolina.
- The pledging process included “hell week,” ending with a mandatory “hell night” initiation party.
- During hell night, pledges were expected and pressured to drink large amounts of alcohol in a short time; those who did not drink were ridiculed.
- Ballou became severely intoxicated, lost consciousness, and was described as pale and unresponsive while lying on a couch in the fraternity house.
- Active members observed his condition, expressed concern, and repositioned him, but did not seek medical care; he was left overnight.
- Ballou was found dead the next morning; the cause of death was acute alcohol intoxication with aspiration of gastric contents.
- Medical evidence indicated he might have survived if taken to a hospital.
- The estate sued the national fraternity for wrongful death; a jury awarded compensatory and punitive damages.
- The trial court denied the national fraternity’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, and the national fraternity appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether sufficient evidence supported submission of negligence (duty and breach) to the jury based on the fraternity’s conduct during hazing-related activities and the failure to obtain medical care.
2. Whether sufficient evidence supported proximate causation despite the decedent’s voluntary alcohol consumption.
3. Whether sufficient evidence supported an agency relationship permitting vicarious liability of the national fraternity for the local chapter’s acts and omissions.
4. Whether the punitive-damages award was supported by evidence of reckless or willful disregard for the pledge’s safety.
5. Whether the trial court committed reversible error in evidentiary rulings, refusal of requested jury instructions (including a Good Samaritan instruction and last clear chance), and denial of a mistrial based on opening statements.

## Decision

- The South Carolina Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment for the plaintiff, including compensatory and punitive damages.
- The court held the evidence permitted a jury finding that fraternity conduct surrounding hell night and the failure to seek medical care constituted a lack of reasonable care.
- The court held proximate cause was for the jury on this record and was supported by evidence that fraternity conduct contributed to intoxication and death, and that timely medical care could have prevented death.
- The court held the record supported submission to the jury of an agency theory making the national fraternity liable for acts within the scope of the local chapter’s fraternity functions.
- The court found no reversible error in admitting expert testimony, refusing requested instructions, or denying a mistrial.
- The court held the evidence supported submission and award of punitive damages.

## Legal Principles

- A defendant may be liable in negligence when it organizes or conducts an activity creating a foreseeable risk of serious harm and fails to exercise reasonable care to protect participants.
- A participant’s voluntary alcohol consumption does not automatically sever proximate causation when evidence supports that defendants encouraged or facilitated dangerous drinking and failed to respond to an obvious medical emergency; causation is generally for the jury when multiple reasonable inferences exist.
- A national organization may face vicarious liability for a local chapter’s conduct when evidence shows sufficient control and an agency relationship, and the challenged acts occurred in furtherance of organizational purposes.
- Punitive damages may be submitted to the jury where evidence supports a finding of reckless or willful disregard for another’s safety, including conscious inaction in the face of apparent, serious peril.
- Trial courts have discretion over expert-testimony admissibility, jury instructions, and mistrial motions; appellate reversal requires a showing of legal error and resulting prejudice.

## Conclusion

The court upheld a wrongful-death verdict arising from a hazing-related drinking event, concluding the evidence allowed the jury to find negligence and proximate cause, to impose vicarious liability on the national fraternity under an agency theory, and to award punitive damages based on reckless disregard for a pledge’s safety.


Ballou v. Sigma Nu Gen. Fraternity, 352 S.E.2d 488 (S.C. Ct. App. 1986)