BOWIE, Md. (WUSA9) — A Bowie State University student has filed a $3 million lawsuit against a fraternity, claiming he was beaten and hazed while pledging.
Student Kevin Hayes sued the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Monday in Prince George’s County Circuit Court for battery/hazing, false imprisonment and gross negligence.
The lawsuit claims APA Fraternity members Mike Ross, Keenan Goins and others punched, hit, slapped, body slammed and paddled Hayes during the fall of 2013. Goins was a graduate student and Ross was not a student at the time, according to the lawsuit.
A photo shared with WUSA9 shows bruising on Hayes’s buttocks. We are not showing the photo in its entirety, but here is part of the bruising.
Hayes was required to attend five to eight hour “sets” during which he would learn chapter and fraternity information. According to the lawsuit, he was physically punished if the information was not done correctly. The punishments included were Jewel Shockers (Side Slaps), Back Racks (Back Slaps), Fat Joes (Chest Slaps), as well as taking “wood” (Paddling), the lawsuit claims.
Pledges were not allowed to wear specific colors and were ordered not to “snitch” about the hazing, according to the lawsuit.
After the hazing period was over, the lawsuit claims that fraternity members threatened Hayes and his mother, saying they would come by her house and see her. READ FULL
