Opinion ID: 2449904
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Relationship between ATO National and the Sparkses

Text: Although this court has not previously addressed whether there is a special relationship between a national fraternity and a third party, such that the national fraternity owes a duty to control the conduct of the local chapter and could be held liable for harm caused to a nonmember by a third party guest, other courts have addressed similar questions. In Alumni Ass'n v. Sullivan , the Pennsylvania Supreme Court considered a national organization's relationship to a local chapter. 524 Pa. 356, 572 A.2d 1209, 1209-10 (1990). In that case, a freshman college student drank alcohol that was provided at parties hosted by both his dormitory and a local chapter of Sigma Chi Fraternity (of which he was not a member). Id. At some point, a fire was set at a neighboring fraternity, Lambda Chi Alpha, allegedly by the student. Id. at 1210. Thereafter, the neighboring fraternity sued the student and Sigma Chi for negligently providing him with alcohol. Id. In declining to extend Pennsylvania's social-host doctrine, [6] the court concluded that the national fraternity did not owe a duty to monitor the everyday activities of its local chapters. Id. at 1211, 1213. The court reasoned that [t]he national organization in fraternal groups has only the power to discipline an errant chapter after the fact. It does not possess the resources to monitor the activities of its chapters contemporaneously with the event. Id. at 1213; see also Carneyhan, 169 S.W.3d at 854 (concluding that because the local chapter's ability to conduct its social functions was not controlled at all by the national organization, no special relationship existed giving rise to a duty on the part of the [national organization] to exercise reasonable care to control [the local chapter]); Colangelo v. Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity, 205 Mich.App. 129, 517 N.W.2d 289, 292 (1994) (concluding that impos[ing] a duty upon the national fraternity to supervise the daily activities of its local chapters would be impractical and would result in a significant increase in operating costs). The imposition of a duty on ATO National is likewise not warranted here. In their second amended complaint before the district court and in their briefs on appeal, the Sparkses fail to differentiate between ATO National and ATO-UNR and ATO-UNLV. Rather, they argue broadly that the ATO respondents had a duty to control and supervise their guests. However, the Sparkses fail to provide any rationale for placing responsibility on ATO National to control and supervise a tailgate party, even if it had been hosted by or in an area reserved by a local ATO chapter. Thus, like the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and based on the facts presented in this case, we are not persuaded that a national fraternal organization has a duty to supervise the everyday activities of its local chapters. Accordingly, we conclude that a special relationship did not exist, and that ATO National did not owe a duty to the Sparkses to protect them from injury caused by a third party.