Sigma Nu settles lawsuit

Sigma Nu and former IU student Chase Coslett have reached an out-of-court settlement agreement for an alleged 2003 hazing incident at the fraternity. The terms of the deal were not disclosed in court documents and Greg Meyer, Coslett's attorney, could not be reached by press time.\nCoslett will soon file documents in Monroe County Circuit Court to have his lawsuit against the fraternity dismissed because a settlement has been reached, according to a letter from The Mediation Group LLC to the court filed Nov. 1. The Mediation Group is the Indianapolis-area company that helped the fraternity and the former Sigma Nu pledge come to the agreement.\nThe lawsuit, filed Feb. 9, sought compensation for an injury to Coslett's hand, which occurred when he was allegedly thrown into a pile of trash containing broken glass during a hazing incident Feb. 13, 2003, at Sigma Nu, according to a Feb. 15 article in the Indiana Daily Student.\nIn the lawsuit, Coslett said he is still suffering pain from the injury, which caused him to miss his second semester at IU. He has since transferred to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville because he received threats of physical violence from fraternity members, he said. \nThe suit named the national Sigma Nu fraternity, the Sigma Nu Alumni Association and the IU chapter of Sigma Nu, 1015 N. Jordan Ave., as defendants. Leaders of the fraternity at the time and David Pulse, who allegedly threw Coslett in the pile of garbage and broken glass, were also defendants. Pulse was not a member of the fraternity at the time of the incident but had been invited back and was paid for his participation in the hazing incident, deemed "hell night," according to the article.\nCoslett alleged "hell night" began when he and fellow pledges were taken into the fraternity's basement and interrogated by current members. When Coslett answered a question incorrectly, he was picked up by his feet and dunked head first into a bucket of ice water for several seconds, he said. \nAccording to the suit, after he was dunked several times, he answered another question incorrectly. In response, he was picked up by the neck and slammed into a chair by Pulse, the suit alleged. Coslett was then allegedly picked up and thrown into a pile of trash containing broken glass, causing his right hand to bleed. At first, brothers refused to take Coslett to the hospital and after finally consenting, instructed him to lie about the injury, \naccording to the suit.\nCurrent Sigma Nu President Jacob Welshans directed all comments to Brad Beacham, the executive director of Sigma Nu Fraternity Inc. Beacham was out of town Wednesday and could not be reached for comment about the settlement by press time.