On January 25th, legal industry news outlet Law360 reported “State Farm Can’t Recover Hazing Injury Settlement Payment.” Reporter Jeff Sistrunk wrote about the case that stemmed from an incident involving a Phi Beta Sigma alumni chapter in Florence that left a pledge with severe kidney injuries.
Murphy & Grantland attorneys Wesley B. Sawyer, J.R. Murphy and Timothy J. Newton represented Admiral Insurance Company.
 Sawyer |
 Murphy |
 Newton |
An excerpt from Sistrunk’s report:
An insurer for the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity doesn’t have to pick up the tab for State Farm Fire and Casualty Co.’s costs to settle litigation against an alumnus who hosted hazing rituals that resulted in serious injuries to a pledge, a South Carolina federal judge ruled Wednesday, holding that a hazing exclusion clearly bars coverage for the incident.
According to State Farm, [a homeowner] was insured under the Admiral policy as a volunteer worker for Phi Beta Sigma. Admiral countered that [the homeowner] didn’t constitute a volunteer within the policy terms and added that, in any event, the hazing exclusion would apply to bar coverage.
The complete report from Law360.
(Case number 4:15-cv-02745 — U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.)
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