Options Besides a Lawsuit After Hazing

What 'Alternatives to a Lawsuit' Means After Hazing

A civil lawsuit is a claim an injured person, or a family after a death, brings in court against the people or organizations they believe are legally responsible. It asks for damages, which is money a court may award for the losses the law recognizes. The three routes on this page work differently. Each one belongs to someone else: the school, law enforcement, or a federal agency.

The first route is a report under the school's own hazing policy. The school then runs its own investigation and decides on its own discipline. The second is a police report, which gives law enforcement a record and may lead to a criminal investigation. The third is a complaint to the Office for Civil Rights. It applies only where the hazing involved discrimination on a basis the federal civil rights laws that office enforces cover, such as sex, race or disability.

These routes serve different purposes, run on different timelines and end in different kinds of results. Some people use one route. Some use several. Some use none and go straight to a civil claim. The choice usually depends on what happened and on what the student or family most wants: discipline inside the school, a criminal case, a change in how the school responds to discrimination, or compensation through the courts.

One point matters a great deal. None of these routes pauses the time limit for a civil injury or wrongful-death claim. That time limit is called a statute of limitations, the deadline set by law for filing a lawsuit. Limitation periods differ from state to state, and no single national rule applies. A school investigation that takes months, or a criminal case that takes longer, runs on its own clock. The civil deadline runs on a separate one. How a civil claim itself works is covered in our guide on the hazing injury civil claim.

Reporting Under a School's Own Hazing Policy

Federal law requires colleges to tell students how hazing reports are handled. According to the Federal Student Aid Handbook, a college's annual security report, the yearly campus safety report a school must give to current students and employees, includes "a statement of current policies relating to hazing (as defined by the institution), how to report incidents of such hazing, and the process used to investigate such incidents of hazing, and information on applicable local, State, and Tribal laws on hazing."

The school sets its own definition of hazing for its policy. The same Handbook gives the federal reporting definition: "Any intentional, knowing, or reckless act committed against a person, regardless of their willingness to participate, that occurs during initiation, affiliation, or maintenance of membership in a student organization and causes or creates a risk of physical or psychological injury above the reasonable risk encountered at the institution of higher education or the organization." The phrase "regardless of their willingness to participate" is worth noticing. Under that definition, a student who went along with an initiation is not outside it.

A report under the school's policy starts the school's own investigation. That process can end in discipline against individual students or against an organization. It is an internal disciplinary process. It does not decide civil liability, meaning legal responsibility for an injury, and it does not decide criminal guilt. A school finding against a chapter is not a court judgment, and a school finding of no violation does not end a civil claim.

For a hazed student, the practical value of a school report is often the record it creates. A dated, formal report shows who was told what, and when. That can matter later if the question becomes what the school knew. Our guide on university hazing lawsuits explains why that question comes up. Before relying on the school's process, a student or family may want to weigh what it can resolve and what it cannot. A conversation with an attorney can help clarify how a school finding would, or would not, fit with a later claim.

When a Police Report Fits the Situation

A police report is different in kind from a school report. It is a formal record made with law enforcement, separate from the school's process and separate from any civil claim. It may lead to a criminal investigation and, in some cases, to criminal charges. Steps after a report, including who investigates and how long it takes, vary with the agency and the place, so this page describes the route only in general terms.

Hazing laws differ by state, and no single national criminal rule applies. That is one reason the federal rules ask colleges to include information on applicable local, state and tribal hazing laws in their annual security report. Whether a given act is a crime, and how serious a crime, depends on the law of the state where it happened.

A police report also connects to federal campus reporting. The Handbook explains that the Clery Act requires colleges to publish statistics for certain crimes "reported to campus security authorities or local police agencies, including incidents of hazing." It also says a school with a campus police or security department must keep a daily crime log. The log records the nature, date, time and general location of each crime within the school's reporting area and the disposition of the complaint, if known.

Two differences from a civil case stand out. A criminal case is brought by the government, not by the injured person or the family, and the prosecutor decides whether to charge. A criminal case also uses a higher standard of proof than a civil case. Because of that, the outcome of a criminal case does not automatically decide civil liability. A decision not to charge, or an acquittal, does not by itself end a civil claim.

For a family, a police report puts the event on an official record that does not depend on the school. What it can accomplish turns on the facts, the state and the criminal law that applies there. A family weighing this route may want to consider whether a criminal process matches what they hope for. Some do, and some find that it does not.

What the Office for Civil Rights Complaint Process Covers

The Office for Civil Rights is part of the U.S. Department of Education. Its complaint page explains that it enforces federal civil rights laws barring discrimination in programs that receive Department funds. Those laws cover race, color and national origin under Title VI, sex under Title IX, disability under Section 504 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and age under the Age Discrimination Act. The page says these laws reach "all public schools and most public and private colleges and universities."

This route fits only part of hazing. It applies where the hazing involved discrimination on one of those bases. For sex, Title IX is the federal law, 20 U.S.C. § 1681(a), which provides that "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance," subject to exceptions listed in the statute. One of those exceptions is directly relevant here. The section does not apply to the membership practices of a tax-exempt social fraternity or social sorority whose active membership consists primarily of students at an institution of higher education. That exception covers membership practices. Whether conduct falls inside or outside it depends on the facts.

The complaint page states that "Anyone may file a complaint." The person filing does not have to be the victim and may file for another person. A complainant filing for someone else "is responsible for securing any necessary written consent from that individual, including when a parent files for a student over the age of 18." Using the school's grievance process first is not required by law. A grievance process is the school's internal procedure for resolving complaints. The page also states that a school receiving federal funds may not retaliate against anyone who files, testifies or takes part in a matter before the Office.

This is a federal administrative process. It looks at whether the school complied with the civil rights laws the Office enforces. It is directed at the institution, and it is not a claim for damages for the person who was hurt. It is also the government's process, not an injury claim, and it does not pause the time limit for a civil claim. For a student hazed in a way tied to sex, race or disability, this route speaks to how the school responded to that discrimination. Students thinking about it may want to weigh whether that question, rather than compensation, is the one they most want answered.

Why the 180-Day Window Matters If the Hazing Involved Discrimination

The federal rule sets a filing deadline. Under 34 C.F.R. § 100.7(b), "A complaint must be filed not later than 180 days from the date of the alleged discrimination, unless the time for filing is extended by the responsible Department official or his designee." 34 C.F.R. § 106.81 adopts those procedural provisions for Title IX, so the same rule applies to sex-discrimination complaints.

The Office's complaint page puts it this way: a complaint "must ordinarily be filed within 180 days of the last act of discrimination." A person asking for a waiver for older events "will be asked to show good cause why you did not file your complaint within the 180-day period." The page adds a second rule. If a complainant uses the school's grievance process and then files with the Office, "the complaint must be filed with OCR within 60 days after completion of the institutional grievance process."

The window is measured from the last act of discrimination, as the Office's page states it, not from a later date when the person may have learned more. Where a filing falls outside these periods and no extension is granted, the federal complaint route may not be open.

This deadline has nothing to do with the deadline for a civil lawsuit. The 180-day rule governs a complaint to the Office. A civil claim's limitation period comes from state law, differs from state to state and runs on its own. One can expire while the other is still open, in either order. For a family dealing with medical care or a funeral, keeping two separate deadlines in view is hard. A conversation with an attorney can walk through how the federal complaint timeline and a state's civil limitation period apply to the dates involved.

What Each Route Can and Cannot Accomplish

Put plainly, the three routes end in three different kinds of results, and none of them is an award of damages to the person who was hurt.

A school process can end in discipline against individual students or against an organization. The Handbook describes the Campus Hazing Transparency Report, which a school must update at least twice a year. It lists incidents where "a finding of responsibility is issued relating to a hazing violation," with the organization's name, a general description of the violation, any sanctions imposed and the date of the incident. Those sanctions are the school's own discipline.

A police report can lead to an investigation and, if prosecutors decide, to criminal charges brought by the government. A conviction or a sentence is a criminal result. It is not compensation paid to the injured person through that route.

An Office for Civil Rights complaint addresses whether the school met its obligations under federal civil rights law. Its focus is the institution's compliance, not damages for the individual.

A civil personal-injury claim, or a wrongful-death claim after a death, is the route that can lead to damages under state law. Guides on this site cover that route, including hazing wrongful death claims and college students' legal options. The site's comparison guide sets these routes side by side for readers who want to see them in one place.

Which route, or which combination, fits a situation is not the same for every family. The rules depend on the facts, the state and the law that applies. Some families start with a school report and later file a civil claim. Others never use the school's process. If you would like to talk through which of these routes, alone or together, matches what you hope to achieve, you can request a case evaluation through this site.