Family Sues Sorority After Daughter's 'Catastrophic' Fall From A Second Story Window:
Parents of a college student want a Boston university to take responsibility.
On March 31, 2023, a Northeastern University student, Sarah Cox, experienced a horrific fall while attending a party. Cox, who was a member of a sorority at the institution, fell out of a second story window. The college student has been in a catatonic state since the incident.
The Cleveland Clinic defines catatonia as a "disorder that disrupts how your brain works, disrupting how a person processes and reacts to the world around them. People with catatonia often don't react to things happening nearby or may react in ways that seem unusual. Impaired communication, unusual movements or lack of movement, and behavior abnormalities are the most striking features of this condition."
Now, according to 'Law & Crime,' Cox's parents are seeking legal retribution from the sorority Alpha Phi Epsilon, whom they believe are responsible for the tragedy.
In a lawsuit filed by her parents, they state that "Sarah Cox's injuries are catastrophic, and she will require one to one care 24 hours per day and 7 days per week on a permanent basis. Sarah Cox will require a variety of medical devices and equipment to survive." The medical bills they have amassed so far exceed $200,000.
The Greek organization, however, is looking to have the suit — which is seeking damages from the organization, the local chapter, then-chapter President Margaret "Maggie" Scales, property owner Marcia Ramos, and the Ramos Properties company — dismissed.
"When you cut through the six negligence counts against the Sorority Defendants in the 170-paragraph Complaint, Plaintiffs' claim is: 'Sarah Cox fell out of a window onto the driveway below. While certainly sympathetic to Cox's alleged 'catastrophic injuries as a result of the fall', the counts against the Sorority Defendants fail under the most basic duty-breach-causation-damages analysis," the sorority said in a statement.
The sorority claims Cox's parents' accusations of negligence are too general to hold up. "Plaintiffs merely allege that all defendants were somehow responsible for the myriad of alleged behavior without any allegation of what actually caused the fall," they said.
Furthermore, the suit has faced difficulty moving forward in any direction due to a substantial lack of information.
"Sadly, Sarah cannot provide any facts or details about it because she has been in a catatonic state ever since she hit the ground. Moreover, none of the people present at the party have offered any facts about how it happened, not even her close friends," Cox's parents said, per the outlet. "Despite requests for information made by Sarah's mother and other efforts to obtain certain facts about Sarah's fall from the window, nobody was willing to offer any details, so the only tool available to the Plaintiffs is the court and its grant of discovery powers."
