University of Washington sued over 2022 fraternity sexual assault
SEATTLE - A former University of Washington student is suing the university following a 2022 sexual assault at a fraternity house in Seattle.
What we know:
The lawsuit stems from an incident on Nov. 19, 2022, when the student, anonymously identified in the filing as A.P., attended two parties at a Pi Kappa Phi "live-out" house. According to the complaint, a fraternity member provided A.P., who was a minor, with excessive amounts of alcohol, impairing her to the point where she could not stand or speak in complete sentences.
The fraternity member then took A.P. to his room at the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity house, where he sexually assaulted her while she was unconscious. The frat member later admitted to the acts and pleaded guilty to third-degree rape on Nov. 22, 2024.
The lawsuit alleged the University of Washington was negligent by failing to regulate, restrict or monitor the fraternity member, as he previously had a restraining order issued against him for inappropriate sexual behavior before he enrolled.
FILE - Students at the University of Washington are on campus for the last day of in-person classes.
The backstory:
The lawsuit relies in part on recent legal developments in Washington state.
In 2026, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled that Washington State University had a legal duty to protect students in Greek life following the death of Sam Martinez. Martinez died of alcohol poisoning after a hazing incident at the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity in 2019.
Attorneys representing the University of Washington sexual assault survivor argue this precedent establishes that universities have a responsibility to protect students from hazing, sexual assault and other forms of violence and harm within fraternity and sorority organizations.
What they're saying:
"The social cause our client wants to target is simple: the public must be made aware that this happens in our own communities. Sexual abuse does occur in frat houses. It occurs at frat houses at UW, and we suspect at many schools," said Steve Berman, managing partner at Hagens Berman, the law firm representing the victim. "We believe UW must take responsibility to protect its students in its Greek system when it benefits greatly from Greek Row as a revenue source and calling card for applicants."
University of Washington spokesperson Victor Balta issued the following statement in response to the complaint, stating the university acts quickly when sexual assaults occur:
"The University of Washington is committed to preventing sexual assault and responding when it occurs in a trauma-informed, compassion-forward manner that is guided by both our values and compliance requirements, and we continually evaluate opportunities to strengthen our prevention, support and response efforts.
"While prevention of such acts remains the UW’s top priority, we also act quickly to respond when assaults occur. In this case, the University launched an investigation and student disciplinary proceeding, the respondent student was permanently withdrawn from the University and can never re-enroll. Police also investigated, the individual was prosecuted and served jail time.
"Based on court records, the temporary civil restraining order between the perpetrator and another former University student (who is not a party to this case) was issued before any of them enrolled at the UW and was no longer in effect by the time they began attending the University. The University was not aware of any active court-approved restraining or protective orders in effect against the respondent student when he was admitted or when he enrolled.
"Fraternities are independent organizations and make their own decisions about membership so questions about any fraternity’s policies should be directed to them."
What's next:
A civil trial in the case is scheduled to begin Oct. 18, 2027.
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The Source: Information in this story came from official court filings submitted in King County Superior Court, a press release from Hagens Berman, and FOX 13 Seattle reporting.