Student Sues Sorority for Allegedly Secretly Recording a Half-Naked Dancing Video
A Southern Methodist University student is suing Kappa Kappa Gamma after the sorority allegedly threatened to release a video it obtained of her and her sisters to the school, the Dallas Morning News reports. The video was allegedly taken secretly and without the sisters' consent. "Jane Doe" is seeking $1 million in damages and the destruction of the video.
On the night of Jan. 13, Kappa seniors welcomed the 45 new members who'd received bids to the sorority that day to the house and "in varying states of undress" sang Carrie Underwood's "Cowboy Casanova" to them - a sorority tradition. Also per tradition, all freshmen and seniors surrendered their phones before the dancing to prevent anyone from taking pictures or filming. However, a "Kappa national agent" allegedly used a security camera to film the half-naked women without their consent. Though Fox 4 reports it was the Kappa house mom who filmed it, the lawsuit does not specify who it was.
The lawsuit explains the national chapter of the sorority heard about the dancing, obtained the video, and shared copies of it to determine which students had participated that night. The representatives of the national chapter "said, 'We've seen the video, and if you don't cooperate, we're going to turn it over to SMU administration,'" Jane Doe's lawyer Rogge Dunn said. "They used it as a threat." Eighteen seniors were dismissed from the sorority by the national chapter, and 10 more were placed on probation after the national chapter's investigation into the video.
Dunn said the last thing his client wanted was to sue the sorority, but she is terrified about the consequences of it leaking: "She's been such a successful student and is less than two months away from graduation. This is supposed to be the happiest time in a Kappa senior's life."
Kappa Kappa Gamma national spokeswoman Laura Barnett released a statement to the Dallas Morning News, saying:
Kappa Kappa Gamma has a clear code requiring high standards of behavior. When an incident is reported, we are committed to a timely, fair and thorough investigation. While it is inappropriate to discuss a matter in litigation, Kappa Kappa Gamma is confident our review of the incident that occurred in the Dallas chapter was timely, fair and thorough as were the actions taken against the individuals involved.
It is unclear what actually about that night and this tradition is grounds for expulsion from the sorority. The lawsuit does acknowledge some women were drinking that night - per national rules, Kappa Kappa Gamma is a dry sorority.
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