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Hazing is a dangerous practice that can have physical and emotional ramifications for victims. Despite known risks and even laws against hazing, many school sports teams continue to force new recruits through barbaric hazing rituals that can put them at risk of serious harm. If your child has been injured due to sports team hazing in Kansas, our lawyers at DRZ Law can help you seek justice. Discuss your case with one of our attorneys today.
You have been through enough as the victim of hazing or a family member of a victim. Hiring an attorney allows you to have greater peace of mind to focus on recovering from your physical and psychological injuries and building your future. You can trust your attorney to handle the complex legal aspects of your claim for you, as well as fight for the best possible case results from the school or individual responsible.
A hazing injury attorney can take care of many important legal matters for you, such as:
In addition to giving your case optimal odds of success, your lawyer can provide answers to your pressing legal questions and address all of your needs and concerns throughout the claims process. You can trust your attorney to help you pick up the pieces after a devastating hazing abuse incident and restore your life back to normal as much as possible.
Hazing refers to forcing new recruits to participate in difficult – and often dangerous – tasks that are designed to be painful, challenging or humiliating to join a sports team. Hazing is often done secretly, both to protect the ritual and to avoid intervention by the school. This can make it difficult to spot the signs of hazing, especially if the victim lives on campus. Hazing can involve many dangerous and even deadly practices, including:
Sports team hazing incidents have been known to cause severe physical injuries, physical and emotional trauma, and even death. A recent example at the University of Kansas, for example, led to the suspension of two fraternities for extreme hazing that involved emotional torture, physical abuse, forced alcohol consumption and servitude.
Kansas law makes it a class B misdemeanor to commit any act that could foreseeably result in bodily harm, disfigurement or death as part of an initiation of membership into an organization. Yet, this does not stop sports teams in Kansas from forcing potential players to go through traumatic hazing rituals. It is a school’s responsibility to take actionable measures to prevent sports team hazing, such as:
Unfortunately, many schools in Kansas turn a blind eye to hazing rituals by fraternities and sports teams. They may conceal known information about hazing on campus from parents, for instance, or bury reports of hazing to protect their own reputations. In some cases, administrators at the school may see hazing as character building or just star athletes “having fun.” Negligence by a school in preventing hazing could give you grounds to file a civil lawsuit against the institution.
The short answer to this question is yes. Schools, colleges and universities have a responsibility to prevent sports team hazing by being proactive about protecting their students and athletes. For example, a school should conduct anti-hazing and anti-bullying campaigns, post signs around campus, implement anonymous reporting procedures, ensure proper student activity supervision, and take other measures to prevent sports hazing.
If a school or one of its employees was negligent, or fell short of the responsibility to prevent hazing when another party reasonably would have, it can be held liable (financially responsible) for a victim’s injuries. A school may also be held liable if it played a role in the severity of the victim’s injuries, such as by failing to put a stop to sports team hazing once an administrator had reason to suspect this dangerous practice – such as if hazing or bullying was reported.
If the school where you or your child experienced sports team hazing was a public school, you may be able to sue the school district or government. If it was a private school, the individual institution could be held responsible for sports team hazing. Either way, you may need a personal injury lawyer to help you build a hazing case against a school and demand fair financial compensation for your injuries.
In Kansas, filing a personal injury claim or lawsuit for sports team hazing could result in financial compensation, or damages, being awarded to a victim for multiple past and future losses. You may be eligible for both economic and noneconomic damages if your hazing lawsuit is successful. The defendant(s) may be held liable for many of your losses, including:
The possibility of obtaining financial compensation is not the only reason to pursue a personal injury claim for sports team hazing in Kansas. It is important for a victim to come forward for his or her own mental peace, to face his or her abusers and achieve justice. Reporting sports team hazing could also protect other players in the future from suffering from the same fate. However, obtaining fair financial compensation for sports team hazing can help you and your family move forward with less financial stress.
Holding a school, college or university responsible for your child’s sports team hazing injuries can provide justice on a larger scale – not only for your child but for other students affected by hazing, as well. It can change practices on an institutional level to prevent hazing in the future. It can also result in financial compensation for the victim’s bodily injuries, medical bills, and pain and suffering.
At DRZ Law, our sports team hazing attorneys in Kansas can help you and your family with this type of lawsuit. We understand how devastating hazing can be for victims. Our law firm offers free, confidential case evaluations, where we will listen to your story and let you know if your case has merit. Please call our team of sports team hazing lawyers at (913) 400-2033 or contact us online today to request your meeting.