A former San Diego State University student is suing a fraternity after a hazing incident “almost killed him,” according to a new lawsuit.
The complaint, which names the national Kappa Sigma fraternity, its defunct SDSU chapter, and several suspended members of the SDSU chapter, alleges that the fraternity members forced Benjamin Brennan to finish a 750 milliliter bottle of hard liquor in 30 minutes and consume drugs on April 16, 2021.
Members allegedly forced Brennan, who was 19 at the time, to continue consuming alcohol in amounts that would “literally kill most people” after “he could no longer care for himself, stand, or speak,” the civil complaint states.
Between the evening of April 16 and the next morning, Brennan “was on a couch unable to move or speak due to severe intoxication” while fraternity members allegedly struck him with “paddles” and other objects.
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Kappa Sigma members put Brennan in a vehicle and transported him to a hospital, where they allegedly left him, “failing to provide any information whatsoever that could have assisted the hospital’s efforts to treat him.” His attorneys argue that the apparent decision to leave Brennan at the hospital without giving more information to medical professionals “aggravated and compounded his injuries.”
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“Subsequently, hospital personnel found Plaintiff BRENNAN unconscious, vomiting and not protecting his airway. Plaintiff BRENNAN was placed on life support, intubated and was given a 1 % chance of survival by treating physicians due to his grave condition and Blood Alcohol Content Level of .489 which was recorded at some point in time long after BRENNAN had stopped consuming alcohol. Tetrahydrocannabinol or THC was also found in his system,” the complaint states.
Mitchell B. Wilson, executive director of the national Kappa Sigma Fraternity, told Fox News Digital in a statement that the fraternity is “aware of the lawsuit” and will “review it closely” once they receive it.
“What happened to Benjamin Brennan is unacceptable under any circumstances, and the Kappa Sigma Fraternity has taken action against the individuals who were involved,” Wilson said. “As an organization, we continue to adamantly oppose hazing, the misuse of alcohol and placing the health and safety of any person at risk.”
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Brennan’s family says the incident has changed the now-21-year-old, and his life has been forever altered.
“Pre-incident Ben was everyone’s favorite guy. He lit up a room. Now, it feels like we’re getting to know a new Ben,” his sister, Kaitlin Brennan, told “Good Morning America.”
READ THE COMPLAINT HERE:
Lindsay Gibson, Brennan’s mother, said the defendants “abandoned their brother and left him for dead.”
“That’s not brotherhood,” she told “GMA.”
SDSU told FOX 5 San Diego in a statement that it “does not have a comment on the lawsuit, in which it is not named.”
“However, the university can speak to its ongoing approach to educate students in an effort to mitigate behavioral and other issues within our SDSU community,” the school said. “Kappa Sigma was suspended from SDSU in 2020 and expelled in 2022. The chapter appealed the university’s decision earlier this year, and the university has upheld the expulsion. The chapter is not an approved, recognized student organization (RSO), and has not been since May 2020.”
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