Content Warning: This article contains descriptions of sexual assault.

Former Phi Kappa Sigma pledge James Haussman is suing the administrators of the Tulane Educational Fund, or Tulane University, the Phi Kappa Sigma-Mu Chapter, Phi Kappa Sigma International Fraternity and 14 fraternity members over alleged hazing that occurred in the 2025 spring semester. 

The lawsuit, filed in December 2025, alleges that a fraternity member struck Haussman, a first-year student at the time, in the head with a 24-ounce beer can during his pledge induction, causing a concussion. According to the suit, fraternity members continued to force Haussman to participate in hazing activities that resulted in severe and long-term neurological damage. Haussman medically withdrew from Tulane due to his injuries.

John Seifer, a sophomore and the fraternity’s head risk chair at the time, and social chair Jackson Smith, a junior at the time, were arrested and each charged with one count of failure to seek assistance in August 2025. Then junior and fraternity president Jake Stouffer was charged with failure to seek assistance and criminal hazing, a felony in the state of Louisiana. The Orleans Parish District Attorney refused to take the cases, which are separate from Haussman’s civil suit, citing inadequate police investigation on Jan. 9. 

The other defendants named in the lawsuit, who have not been charged with a crime, are Matthew Cohen, William Dassel, Bryan Flanagan, Jack Fox, Ryan Lemberg, Jacob Maged, Cooper Pollock, Jack Pluta, Dylan Ross, Quinn Stevens and Luke Troncale. 

Phi Kap has been under interim suspension since April 2025 pending a university investigation into hazing. 

Haussman is seeking damages for economic losses, loss of educational opportunities, physical and emotional harm and medical expenses. A trial date has not yet been set and no answers to the complaint have been filed, as of the time of publication and according to publicly available information. 

‘It was about control.’ 

According to the lawsuit, Haussman and his pledge class gathered for induction on January 26, 2025. There, pledges were doused in beer and eggs and forced to recite Phi Kap’s hazing policy in unison ten times. The suit alleges fraternity members presented a slideshow during induction that included antisemitic imagery and homophobic slurs.

Fraternity members allegedly threw beer cans, liquor and eggs at pledges, while others spat on them. A fraternity member then threw a full 24-ounce beer can at Haussman, striking him in the head, leaving him bleeding and disoriented.

Fraternity members placed Haussman on a barstool, where he fell and struck his head a second time, causing him to lose his memory. When he regained awareness, he was in a different fraternity property wearing a different set of clothes. Haussman did not receive proper medical care until the next day.

According to the lawsuit, fraternity members instructed Haussman to tell medical professionals and university officials that he was hit in the head with a beer can while watching a football game.

Over the next few weeks, the suit alleges, Haussman was forced to continue participating in physical hazing activities against medical advice. Haussman later struck his head for a third time during a separate fraternity hazing incident. 

“It was about control, humiliation, and power. They knew what they were doing was wrong,” Haussman said in a statement to The Hullabaloo.

As a result of the hazing Haussman endured, the lawsuit alleges Haussman was diagnosed with a chronic concussion, making him unable to drive and do his schoolwork. As a result, the lawsuit alleges, he was forced to medically withdraw from his classes at Tulane and lost his job as a baseball student manager. 

The lawsuit also alleges other incidents of hazing that occurred during Haussman’s time as a pledge. Pledges were forced to perform exercises coated in cayenne pepper, recite the Greek alphabet while matches burned their fingers and submit themselves to waterboarding.

In another incident, one pledge began bleeding from the neck after being slapped with a raw fish. According to the lawsuit, Patrick Strangways, a member of Tulane Emergency Medical Services, was present during the incident and assessed the laceration.

Ahead of a fraternity retreat in Mississippi, fraternity leadership told the pledges to “prepare for the worst, expect the worst.” There, pledges were allegedly “hunted” with a BB gun. 

The lawsuit alleges that a fellow pledge informed Haussman of a sexual assault that occurred at the retreat, where a fraternity member provided a pledge with alcohol until he lost consciousness before engaging in inappropriate sexual contact.

Tulane named in lawsuit 

The lawsuit accuses Tulane of failing to clamp down on a culture of hazing. 

The state of Louisiana introduced hazing laws in response to the deaths of Max Gruver in 2017 and Caleb Wilson in 2025. Penalties for hazing include up to five years in prison and/or up to $10,000 in fines, with charges for failure to seek assistance resulting in up to one year in prison and/or $1,000 in fines. 

Since the introduction of these pieces of legislation, Tulane fraternities Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Delta Tau Delta, Alpha Epsilon Pi, and sororities Alpha Kappa Alpha, Sigma Delta Tau and Kappa Alpha Theta have been investigated or suspended for hazing. 

According to Tulane spokesperson Michael Strecker, the university implemented mandatory training to prevent hazing in accordance with state law. 

“Safety and well-being of Tulane students remains our highest priority … We work daily to foster a safe and respectful environment for all students and hold accountable any individual or organization that engages in hazing activity,” Strecker said. “We also urge all members of our community to report any instances of suspected hazing, to engage in open dialogue about the importance of safety and respect for all, and to remain united against hazing in all forms.” 

According to their website, Phi Kappa Sigma International Fraternity maintains a zero-tolerance policy towards hazing across all of its chapters.

Phi Kappa Sigma-Mu Chapter and Phi Kappa Sigma International Fraternity did not respond to requests for comment. 

Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article stated the criminal cases against Jake Stouffer, Jackson Smith and John Seifer were currently pending. The criminal cases were refused by the Orleans Parish District Attorney on Jan. 9.