College not liable over underage drinking

Listen to this article

A judge has ruled in favor of Endicott College in a negligence suit brought by a student who was prosecuted for committing three assaults after drinking on campus while a 19-year-old sophomore.

The plaintiff student sought to hold the college and its president liable under three distinct theories — social host liability, liability based on the existence of a “special relationship” and liability premised upon negligent supervision.

Superior Court Judge Salim Rodriguez Tabit, finding no merit to any of three theories, awarded the defendants summary judgment.

“There are … no factual allegations suggesting the Defendants purchased, served, or controlled the flow of alcohol [plaintiff Dillon] Destefano consumed,” the judge noted.

“No Massachusetts court has ever applied social host liability theory to a college or university,” Tabit pointed out.

“No Massachusetts case … has ever determined that a special relationship exists between a college or university or its officials and its students that would impose  a duty to protect students from the voluntary use of drugs or alcohol,” the judge found.

“The court is aware of no case, and the parties have cited none, where a Massachusetts court has entertained a claim of negligent supervision where a plaintiff argues that the defendant has a duty to protect him from himself,” Tabit added.

“Here, the, harmful acts alleged are not those of a third person and, it is not reasonable to expect the Defendants to monitor the actions of an adult when it comes to his voluntary intake of alcohol on a large college campus,” the judge concluded.

The 10-page decision is Destefano v. Endicott College, et al., Lawyers Weekly No. 12-142-17.

Click here to order the full text of the opinion.