Sides ask for sealed file in lawsuit

FAYETTEVILLE — A Washington County circuit judge will consider sealing a lawsuit claiming a fraternity should be held responsible for explicit images taken and shared without permission.

The lawsuit, filed in February by “Jane Doe,” states she was a student at the University of Arkansas when explicit images were taken of her at a Feb. 28, 2017, party at the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity house.

In the Washington County case, attorneys for the fraternal organizations named in the case opposed the use of a pseudonym, rebutting a claim made in the woman’s lawsuit a pseudonym wouldn’t affect the fairness of the proceedings.

Doug Martin, the judge in the case, will decide on a joint motion filed July 27 by attorneys for both “Jane Doe” and the fraternal organization asking the case be sealed.

The motion doesn’t say a trial should be closed but asks that “all pleadings, motions, and documents filed in this matter shall be categorized as being ‘under seal’ and that the Clerk of this Court shall so designate all past and future filings in this action as being ‘under seal’ and shall restrict all public access thereto.”

In the original “Jane Doe” lawsuit, court documents state there “is a high risk of retaliatory harm” to the woman and the allegations are “of a highly sensitive and personal matter.” The identity of the woman is known to the fraternity, according to her lawsuit.

Court documents state a cellphone was used by an unnamed “Picture Pledge” to photograph sexual activity in a locked bathroom stall involving the woman and an unnamed associate member of the fraternity, with images later distributed to an email network for fraternity members.

The lawsuit was filed against the national organization — Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity Inc. — and the UA fraternity chapter — Gamma Chi Zeta of Lambda Chi Alpha. Two other organizations related to Lambda Chi Alpha are also named.

In court documents, attorneys for the fraternal organizations have denied a claim fraternity officers were involved in the actions of the unnamed “Picture Pledge.”

The lawsuit states “Jane Doe” lost educational opportunity, self-esteem and reputation, among other damages, and asks for unspecified damages and punitive damages “if warranted and appropriate.”

The woman is being represented by Rogers-based attorney George Rozzell with the law firm Keith, Miller, Butler, Schneider & Pawlik. Attorneys for the UA chapter of the fraternity include Rodney Cook of Oklahoma City-based Phillips Murrah

Cook, in an email, declined to comment when asked why the fraternity opposed allowing the case to proceed as a “Jane Doe” lawsuit.

Rozzell on Monday said in an email after the fraternity’s opposition, he first asked the court to ratify, or allow, the case to proceed as a “Jane Doe” case.

“The Parties then engaged in significant discussions in an effort to resolve these issues. We agreed to remove the pseudonym conditioned upon the entirety of the case file being placed under seal,” Rozzell said.

The case being placed under seal “would permit the parties to move forward with discovery and trial as in a normal case,” he said.