In Penn State hazing suit, flap over website

Since it went live in June, a website that contains a petition to end hazing at fraternities, a roster of cases related to physical and sexual abuse in the Greek system, and a plethora of related documents, has drawn brisk traffic.

Aaron Freiwald, a creator of endhazingnow.com, says the site is about more than the civil suit filed by his client, James Vivenzio, against Pennsylvania State University and the Kappa Delta Rho fraternity.

But the attorney for the fraternity's national organization contends the site is about a lawyer selling his services and is an abuse of something ordinarily out of the public eye - the pretrial discovery process.

Gaetano Piccirilli last week filed a motion last week that seeks to block Freiwald from making public any discovery material.

"Just because it's discoverable does not mean that it winds up in public filings that would be on the docket or at the trial," said Piccirilli, representing Kappa Delta Rho's national organization.

"Pretrial discovery is not something that the public sees," he said.

The site has received more than 1,000 visits, and Freiwald said his client views it as "an opportunity to talk about the problem . . . and what people can do about it."

Vivenzio, of Great Falls, Va., contends in his suit that he suffered from abusive hazing practices from 2012 to 2013 and that the university took no action when he reported them.

"I am only one person, but I want to make sure others don't experience the nightmare I went through," Vivenzio said in a statement Friday.

The university has said Vivenzio was unwilling to file a complaint or participate in the school's disciplinary process. It declined to comment on the website.

In January, Vivenzio reported incidents to the police, along with information about a Facebook page maintained by the fraternity that included pictures of undressed women, some apparently asleep or passed out. The university suspended the fraternity for three years in May after a police investigation.

Piccirilli argued in his petition that future discovery will include private information about other students involved in hazing and misconduct allegations, some as victims.

Freiwald said he would not make public personal information and added that the defense could ask for specific information to be sealed, rather than seeking an order that would keep all discovery private.

Others who have handled cases related to the Greek system, however, say the website does more for Freiwald's practice than it does for victims.

"The information he's posting is at best marginally relevant to hazing prevention and hazing education and primarily directed toward placing fishing hooks in the water for clients," said Douglas Fierberg, a Washington lawyer who has handled cases against universities over hazing deaths.

An Ohio lawyer who represents fraternities and sororities, Tim Burke, said many resources already were available for victims of hazing or sexual violence who want information. He said it was highly unusual to establish a website that offers detailed information on an active civil suit, though Freiwald cited examples of other such sites in a brief filed Friday.

Fierberg said discovery's main purpose is to prepare a legal case.

"It's not intended to create evidence for some other purpose," he said.

610-313-8114 @jasmlaughlin