WSU found liable for student’s hazing death in landmark court ruling

Washington State University (WSU) has been found liable for the death of student Sam Martinez, an appeals court decision ruled Tuesday.

Martinez, a freshman student originally from Bellevue, died of alcohol poisoning while pledging the fraternity Alpha Tau Omega at WSU.

This ruling marks the first time a university within Washington has been held accountable for a hazing-related fatality. This ruling differed from a King County Superior Court decision in 2022, when a judge dismissed the case against the university, citing that WSU did not owe Martinez “a duty of care.”

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“Because WSU has a special relationship with its recognized fraternal organizations, we conclude that it owed a duty to use reasonable care to control the fraternity and protect Sam from the foreseeable harms of fraternal hazing and alcohol misuse,” the Washington Court of Appeals, Division 1, wrote in its decision, obtained by The Seattle Times.

In 2019, a fraternity member gave Martinez and another “pledge” a half gallon of rum and told them to drink it in less than an hour during the fraternity’s annual Big Brother Party, KIRO 7 confirmed through court documents. Martinez died of alcohol poisoning, police and university investigations confirmed.

“Nobody called 911, and they woke up to a nightmare, and so did we,” Martinez’s mother, Jolayne Houtz, told KIRO 7. “He’s gone, and I can’t stand by and be worried every time a school year begins that another family will have to go through this because it’s wrong.”

Prosecutors charged 15 students with furnishing alcohol to a minor, which, as a gross misdemeanor, was a tougher charge than hazing. Some served jail time between one and 19 days, while others were sentenced to probation.

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One of the reasons the appeals court ruled against WSU was the court found the university knew of, and neglected, multiple instances of troubling behavior, according to KING 5. In 2013, The WSU conduct board found the fraternity made pledges clean up raw sewage and drink excessive amounts of alcohol. In 2017, the fraternity was documented forcing pledges to drink excessively and endure “aggressive hazing.”

The university also had evidence Alpha Tau Omega humiliated new members by forcing them to stand in toilets.

“They had a terrible history. University leaders knew that all the way to the top and they did nothing,” Houtz told KING 5. “If I would have known a quarter of what I now know about Alpha Tau Omega, there’s no way Sam would have wanted to join and, furthermore, we wouldn’t have allowed him to join. They knowingly put Sam and other students in harm’s way.”

WSU stripped its recognition of the fraternity until 2026.

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Houtz and other members of Martinez’ family filed a lawsuit against WSU and Alpha Tau Omega in 2020, eventually settling with the fraternity for an undisclosed amount.

“Washington State University is currently reviewing the Court of Appeals’ decision and we are evaluating our options,” Phil Weiler, vice president of university marketing and communications, wrote in an official statement obtained by KING 5. “At this point, the university has not made a decision on how or if we will proceed.”

Frank Sumrall is a content editor at MyNorthwest and producer of the Seattle Seahawks podcast, The Reset with Gee Scott. You can read his stories here and you can email him here.