I was sent this info on this case "Offlist." It seems there is some disagreement about the correct spelling of her name: <br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid"><br>Coghlan v. Beta Theta Pi Fraternity, 133 Idaho 388, 987 P.2d 300, 139 Ed.L.Rep 643 <br>(1999).<br><br>
Rejena Coghlan was an eighteen year old freshman at the University of Idaho. During <br>“Rush Week” in August, 1993, as a newly admitted member of the Alpha Phi Sorority, she <br>attended parties held at two different fraternity houses, SAE (also jointly sponsored by PKA) and <br>
BTP. As the Court stated: “Two University of Idaho employees, both Greek advisors for the <br>26 <br> <br>University, were in attendance at the BTP party. Coghlan alleges that one of the employees saw <br>Coghlan at the BTP party and congratulated her for pledging Alpha Phi Sorority.” 987 P.2d at <br>
305. She further alleged that she was served alcohol at both parties and that she was never asked <br>for identification. She became intoxicated and distraught and was escorted home and put to bed <br>in the third floor sleeping area of the sorority house. Some time during the night she fell from the <br>
third floor fire escape landing and suffered permanent injuries. She sued the University, the <br>sorority and the fraternities for negligence. The district court dismissed the claim against the <br>Board and the University, holding they owed no duty of care to the plaintiff, and later dismissed <br>
the action against the fraternities based upon the court’s interpretation of the Dram Shop Act, <br>and awarded summary judgment to the sorority. <br>On appeal the Supreme Court held that: (1) the Idaho Dram Shop Act barred the student <br>
from recovery against the fraternities and sorority which provided the alcohol; (2) the Act’s <br>classification which allowed recovery by third parties but not by intoxicated persons was not a <br>violation of the Equal Protection Clause; (3) the University did not initially owe a duty of care to <br>
the adult student; but (4) the allegations stated a claim against the University for breach of a <br>voluntarily assumed duty; (5) the sorority did not have a “special relationship” with the student <br>giving rise to a duty to protect her; but (6) there were fact issues as to whether the sorority <br>
voluntarily assumed such a duty, thus precluding summary judgment. <br><br><br>
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<div><span class="e" id="q_123a5f00474dbff3_1">On Thu, Sep 10, 2009 at 2:17 PM, Ted Moffett <span dir="ltr"><<a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="mailto:starbliss@gmail.com" target="_blank">starbliss@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
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<div>Not again! </div>
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<div>I clearly recall that many years ago another female U of I student fell from, I think it was a sorority upper floor, and sustained long term paralyzing injuries, if my memory is correct. Very tragic. I also recall that the U of I was sued over this incident.</div>
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<div>I just did a search for information on this previous incident, but was unsuccessful. </div>
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<div>I also recall that in this previous incident, alcohol was a contributing factor. This press release makes no mention of whether drug use (I refuse to use the common phrase "drugs and alcohol" as if there is a difference worth noting beyond legal issues, given alcohol is a powerful drug, and those who use it are drug users) was involved in this fall, but if the student was under the influence of alcohol, it seems likely this fact would now be known by medical authorities and law enforcement.</div>
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<div>Ah ha! A source about this previous incident was found, from <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://bing.com/" target="_blank">bing.com</a>. My memory is correct, if the source below is correct:</div>
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<div><a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.dukemagazine.duke.edu/alumni/dm17/legal.html" target="_blank">http://www.dukemagazine.duke.edu/alumni/dm17/legal.html</a></div>
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<div>From website above:</div>
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<div>Another student at the University of Idaho was paralyzed from the waist down after falling three stories. Her blood alcohol was 0.25, more than twice the legal limit. She and her family filed a $500,000 claim against the university. </div>
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<div><span class="e" id="q_123a5f00474dbff3_3">------------------------------------------</span></div>
<div><span class="e">Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett<br><br> </span></div>